Naegiri Prompts and One-Shots
by HopeyMcHope
Summary: A collection of my Naegi/Kirigiri-focused fanfic prompts and one-shot stories. Each chapter contains a standalone tale of varying lengths.
1. Headphones

**Each of the chapters of this work is another fanfic prompt or one-shot originally posted on my blog at hopeymchope dot tumblr dot com. These take place across the entire span of Naegi/Kirigiri's lives, ranging from their time at Hope's Peak prior to the first game all the way up to their relationship after they've re-opened Hope's Peak after the end of Danganronpa 3.**

 **I hope you find something you enjoy.**

* * *

"What do you think sounds good for dinner tonight?" Kyoko asked, leaning on the island in their kitchen.

Makoto Naegi was sitting on the couch in the adjoining living room, staring down at a tablet PC. From where Kyoko was standing, she could only tell that he was playing some sort of game involving brightly colored gemstones of some kind. She could see the right side of his face from her location.

When he didn't answer, Kyoko smiled at him in amusement. "Earth to Naegi," she called out, raising her voice slightly louder this time. "Can you hear me, or are you distracted by shiny objects?"

Makoto continued tapping the jewels on his screen without so much as a glance in her direction.

Kyoko frowned in irritation. "Really? You're giving me the silent treatment?" She sighed in exasperation. "How very adult of you."

Over on the couch, Makoto scratched the back of his head with his left hand, then returned both hands to his game.

"You know, my grandfather used to do this to me," she told him. "Not Fuhito — my maternal grandfather." Kyoko narrowed her eyes at the man on the couch. "It used to make me so angry that I started grinding my teeth. So please, spare my dental work and tell me what's on your mind."

Makoto closed his eyes for a second and leaned his head to the left, stretching his neck with a subtle _pop_. As soon as he felt the release, he moved his head back into its upright position again.

"Is this related to the dog conversation?" Kyoko prodded, undeterred. She folded her arms. "You _do_ realize that it's not _my_ fault that I'm allergic, right?"

Makoto scowled at the screen in front of him.

"Is that all the response I'm going to get?" Kyoko asked, her volume growing.

Makoto's expression quickly transformed into a confident smirk, but he still kept his eyes locked on the tablet.

"Seriously? _"_ Kyoko huffed. "You're acting like a child right now."

She walked around the kitchen's island and headed towards the couch with a determined glare on her face, ready to confront him head-on.

Before she could get in front of him, Makoto glanced over to see her approaching and smiled sincerely, then looked back at the tablet so he could pause something.

"Kyoko, you've _gotta_ try these!" he said happily as he looked back to her. He reached his right hand towards the nearest ear, pulling out a translucent earbud.

Kyoko froze in place just a few steps away. Her mouth opened slightly, but no sound came out.

"The ninth division found these when they were looking for useful tech in the Towa buildings," Makoto explained with excitement. "They're wireless and practically invisible, but they cancel out sound like one of those big earmuff sets! I feel like I'm in the middle of a live concert with-"

He cut himself off when he saw Kyoko blushing in embarassment. "Um, did I… say something… dirty?" he asked nervously.

Kyoko blinked at him once. "Ahh," she began uncertainly. Then she blinked again. "I mean, no," she finally responded. "You're… that is, everything's fine, Makoto."

Makoto jumped up and stepped over to her, putting his hands on her hips. "You're gorgeous when you're flustered," he cooed happily. "But… why are you flustered?"

"I can't imagine," Kyoko fibbed, allowing a small sheepish grin to play across her lips.

Makoto reached up with his right hand and lovingly brushed her lavender hair behind her left ear.

"Then… are you ready to listen to something?" he asked, still smiling at her. He held up the translucent earbud in his right hand.

"Okay," she answered. "I'm ready." Kyoko closed her eyes expectantly, still smiling a little to herself over her own foolishness.

Makoto pulled Kyoko up against him and leaned his head forward. Then, he gently blew warm air into her left ear. She inhaled sharply as she felt the air on the back of her neck standing on end and a pleasant shock traveling down her spine.

Kyoko shuddered and grinned broadly. "Not what I expected," she whispered to him, clearly pleased.

"Sorry," Makoto whispered back insincerely. "Couldn't resist."


	2. Drunk

Hagakure had insisted on celebrating the safe return of his mother, Kyoko's grandfather, and Byakuya's butler.

Some celebrated harder than others.

"This is _sooo goood_ ," Kyoko slurred to Makoto, slumping in his direction.

Makoto leaned sideways at the table and put an arm around Kyoko - mostly just to hold her up. "I'm sure it's great," he told her softly.

"Nonono, you don't _get it_ ," she continued. "When the sake goes straight from the presses to the… to the… wherever they sell this stuff, right? That's _shiboritate_ -"

"I already knew that," Makoto assured her, rubbing her back gently. " _You're_ the one who taught me that."

"It's all _fruity_ this way," Kyoko insisted, undeterred.

"Right," Makoto agreed flatly. "Maaaaybe we should get you home, okay?"

Kyoko narrowed her eyes accusingly at him. "But where is _that?_ " she demanded.

"It's where you're gonna sleep," Makoto told her. "A lot. And probably wake up with a bad headache."

"Doesn't sound SO bad," she decided. "I mean… I guess… "

Makoto helped her up. "We're gonna walk now," he explained. "Lean on me, all right?"

"Shure," she murmured.

Hagakure noticed they were moving towards the exit. "Come on, man!" he shouted. "No karaoke first?!"

"Sorry," Makoto shouted back.

"I don't SIIIIIIING!" Kyoko screamed, barely comprehensible.

"Shh, shhhhh," Makoto whispered. "It's okay, it's okay," he said soothingly. "Nobody's gonna make you sing. We're just going home."

"You're so nice," she whispered back. "Pssst, listen… "

"Hm? What is it?" Makoto muttered.

"If you ask me out," Kyoko continued, teasingly, "I might just say 'yes'…"

Makoto smiled at her. "Kiri… we've been dating for three years."

Kyoko's eyes bulged with shock. "OHMYGOD. I've gotta tell… uh… someone?"

"They probably know," he said with a chuckle.


	3. Stargazing

"This may have been a bad idea."

Kyoko Kirigiri could see the dark circles under Makoto's eyes, and they worried her. Makoto, on the other hand, had his eyes focused upwards as they sat on the hilltop under the night sky.

"It's a great idea," he countered. "Comets that you can see clearly, without a telescope? They come by once every 20 years or so. We can't afford to miss this!"

Kyoko felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. His enthusiasm for so many things never ceased to surprise her, but she still wanted him to get more rest. "It's a school night," Kyoko told him gently.

Makoto finally broke his gaze away from the stars and looked at his companion with a mix of confusion and incredulity. "We're not _kid_ s," he reminded her.

"You _work_ at a school," she pointed out, finally smiling. He could be fairly clueless at times, but Kyoko found it endearing rather than frustrating. "And that means you have to be alert and prepared in the morning, not exhausted from late-night stargazing."

Makoto blushed, embarrassed by how he'd misunderstood her. "Oh… yeah," he said quietly. He cleared his throat before awkwardly adding, "Ah, but that… that doesn't change how rare this event is."

"We could've at least saved some time if we'd simply watched from one of the roofs at Hope's Peak," Kyoko offered.

"Too many lights nearby," Makoto said, shaking his head. "I want the full impact of the night sky, with every star shining down on us."

"Since when do you care about this stuff, anyway?" Kyoko asked him, amusement edging into her voice.

Makoto shrugged. "Every kid has an astronaut phase, right?"

Kyoko suppressed a chuckle. "Every _boy_ , perhaps." Her face fell into repose before she continued, "My own childhood dreams consistently involved corpses."

Makoto let out a heartfelt laugh. "Only a Kirigiri could say that. I guess you were kind of born into your work, though, huh?" He poked her hip with his forefinger and joked, "Did Fuhito have you solving crimes in your diapers?"

"I'll have you know that I didn't _always_ want to be a detective," Kyoko corrected him. She half-smiled and explained, "I had my defiant periods. For a bit I thought I'd rather be a forensics analyst or maybe a coroner."

Makoto grinned and shook his head in disbelief, barely stifling a giggle. "Like I said," he commented. " _Only_ a Kirigiri."

Kyoko narrowed her eyes. "I know you're just trying to distract me," she said. "You're taking me off-topic and employing your boyish charms to keep me from pursuing any concerns about your sleep habits."

Makoto jerked his head backwards. "Wh-what? I'm not! I-I don't even _have_ boyish charms!" he protested.

Kyoko leaned towards him and gave a demure smile. "Says the man who charms me on a regular basis," she purred. "You regularly convince me to stay up late in the pursuit of your own agenda. I'd say your track record speaks for itself."

Makoto jumped to his feet. "You've got that wrong!" he told her with sudden authority. He pointed down towards her as he continued, " _You're_ the one who instigates most of our mutual late nights. _And_ you get less sleep than me. You stay up late working every other night!"

As he finished that sentence, he suddenly lost his boldness. Makoto scratched his cheek awkwardly before adding, "Besides… um, I thought we were pursuing a… uh, a _shared_ agenda whenever we make-"

From her spot on the grass, Kyoko smiled up at him and interrupted, " _Of course_ we are." She winked flirtatiously. "I was just teasing you."

Makoto sighed with relief and smiled lovingly back at her. " _Good._ Because you can-"

"Makoto," Kyoko interrupted him. She raised one gloved hand, pointing up over his shoulder.

Makoto spun around and looked up to see an object brighter than any star that slowly moved across the sky, leaving a dim trail behind it.

"Wow," he whispered.

Kyoko pushed off of the grass and stood up, stepping beside him as she kept her eyes pitched upwards. "It's beautiful," she agreed.

"It's like watching a shooting star in slow-motion," Makoto muttered.

"Should I make a wish?" Kyoko asked, half-joking.

Makoto turned away from the comet and looked at Kyoko. She noticed his attention divert and looked over at him in return.

When their eyes met, Makoto took her hand in his. He finally answered, "I don't need to."


	4. Celebrity Romance

Makoto Naegi was buttering some toast on top of the center island island in Kyoko's kitchen when a notification sound went off on his phone. He set down his knife next to the toast in front of him, then picked up his phone to find a text message from Komaru.

"Check out celeb news. You guys are hot gossip."

Upon reading it, Makoto furrowed his brow in confusion. "Huh?" he said softly to himself. Not knowing where to even find such a thing, he typed "celebrity news" into the search engine and tapped the first link he got.

He was greeted by a giant image of himsef and Kirigiri at the top of the web page. They were walking, talking, and holding hands at the park. The headline "ULTIMATE LOVE?" was plastered across the top.

He immediately returned to the search page and checked the next link on the list.

This one had a photo of the two of them on a park bench, where Makoto was leaning into Kiri's shoulder as she smiled at him. The words in the top-right corner said "New Hope Through Love."

A nervous laugh escaped Makoto's mouth. This was just _weird._ He once again touched "Back" on his phone, then tapped the third link.

Now it was a long-distance shot of the two of himself and Kyoko kissing. It was a little blurry, and the leafy edges betrayed that it was taken from between some trees, but the headline still appeared proud as it pronounced, "Romance From Despair."

"What the _hell_?" Makoto blurted to no one.

Kyoko Kirigiri entered the kitchen at that moment, still slipping into her jacket as she did so. "What's the matter? Is the toaster acting up again?" she asked.

Makoto was already developing beads of sweat on his forehead. "It's the… you and me… "

Kyoko strolled to the opposite side of the island from him and pushed a button on the coffeemaker, where her mug was already resting expectantly. She then turned back towards Makoto to shoot him an expectant look. "We _what_?" she prodded, smiling slightly.

Makoto held up his phone anxiously, showing her the last headline. "Apparently we're… _news_?" he said at last.

Kyoko's mouth quickly turned into a small frown as she leaned forward to look at the phone more closely, then reached up and snatched it out of his hand. Makoto watched her scrolling, tapping, and generally working the phone with a greater speed than he could manage himself. As she did so, her scowl deepened.

"I should've expected this," Kyoko grumbled. "I even noticed the photographer while we were on our lunch date yesterday. I thought he was just doing nature shots."

"I didn't see anybody," Makoto offered.

"He didn't want you to," she told him. "He was sneaking behind the trees and bushes, though it's only 'sneaking' in hindsight. I didn't pay much attention since I thought he was doing close-ups of the foliage, and my own mind was…" Her frown disappeared instantly, transforming into a pleasant smile as she finished, "It was elsewhere." She looked up at Makoto again, holding the smile, and Makoto blushed silghtly as he stared back into her eyes.

After a moment, she continued. "This was inevitable, I suppose," Kyoko said with a shrug, looking back down at the phone. "It's not like we've been hiding anything." She extended her arm, offering Makoto's phone back to him.

Makoto nodded in agreement as he took the phone. "Honestly, I tend to forget that we're celebrities sometimes," he admitted. "I mean, I know the Foundation and Hope's Peak carry a lot of weight to people, so I don't usually think their reactions have anything to do with _me_ , you know?"

"I'm guilty of that as well," Kyoko acknowledged. "Particularly when it comes to myself." She turned her head slightly, looking towards the window. "After all, we've never even _seen_ our own hit television show."

"I'd like to keep it that way," Makoto mumbled uncomfortably. "Do you think we're going to be stalked by paparazzi now?"

Kyoko smirked. "With _our_ security? They're welcome to _try._ I think we'll only need to watch out the next time we go into a publicly accessible space."

Makoto allowed himself a small smile of relief. "You're okay with all this, then?" he asked her.

She turned back towards Makoto with mischief glinting in her eyes. "I think we should have some fun with it."

Makoto was puzzled. "What do you mean?" he inquired.

Kyoko stepped up to the island and leaned forward. She kept on smiling at him as she explained, "In times like these, people need entertainment as a distraction to prevent themselves from despairing over the state of the world. So let's _entertain_." She stared into his eyes as she suggested, "We can go out more frequently, make sure we kiss in public more… "

Makoto set his phone down and leaned over the island as well. "Ohhhh, I get it," he said. "Increase our PDA for the sake of hope?"

"The more public our affection, the better," she agreed happily. Then Kyoko leaned even closer to him, coming within an inch of his face before she whispered, "Perhaps we should make love in the grass next time?"

"K-Kyoko!" he gasped, jerking his head back. His face was beet red.

"What? We can keep _most_ of our clothes on," she teased softly.

Makoto's nervous laugh returned. "Heh, haha, uhhh… y-you're messing with me now, right?"

"Maybe," she admitted, flashing a grin. "You're just so cute when you're like this, I can't really help it."

Now he laughed deeply and heartily, falling forward as he did so. He caught himself with his hands atop the island. Once his laughter died down, he sounded relieved as he joked, "You're gonna give me a heart attack one day."

"Well, I can't have _that_ ," Kyoko said back, still feeling playful. "I'm going to need that thing later."

She leaned forward just a bit more, finally pressing her mouth against his. As they kissed with the island between them, Makoto reached up and placed his hand on the back of Kyoko's head, running it down the length of her hair.

When they separated, both of them smiled affectionately at each other.

"It's already yours, you know," Makoto told her gently.

Kyoko blushed slightly. "And mine is yours," she confirmed.

Makoto grinned so widely with joy he thought his face was going to crack.

Kyoko stepped around the center island and was about to wrap her arms around him when she stopped and looked down. Her face fell, and she quietly said, "Oops."

Makoto looked down at his shirt to find a large smear of butter between his ribs and his stomach.

"Oh, _wonderful_ ," he groaned. "I buttered myself."

Kyoko tried not to giggle, but she quickly failed. "Maybe you shouldn't place food on the island next time," she suggested. "For now, however, I know an easy way to fix this."

Makoto glanced up at her. "Hmm? How?" he asked.

Kyoko cocked an eyebrow at him and folded her arms as her playful smile returned. "Take off your shirt," she commanded.


	5. Blanket

Kyoko Kirigiri heard the metal door creak open behind her in spite of the winds whipping around the rooftop helipad. She spun around to see Makoto Naegi, sporting his usual hoodie. He approached her with a paper cup in his left hand and what appeared to be a velvety-looking red sack over his right shoulder.

"Naegi… what's all this?" Kyoko demanded. She couldn't imagine any reason for him – or any other student, for that matter – to be here.

Makoto walked up and held the cup out towards her. "Well, _this_ is coffee," he answered. "And then _this_ is a blanket," he added, pulling the 'sack' over his shoulder and unfurling it to reveal its full shape and size.

Kyoko narrowed her eyes skeptically but still reached out and took the coffee. "Ah… thank you," she said hesitantly. "But _why?_ "

"Sayaka said you were up here," Makoto replied simply. "And I knew you'd be cold. And… I know you like coffee?"

"That's not an answer," Kyoko countered.

Makoto looked confused. "It's not?"

"Of course not," Kyoko told him, mildly irritated. "I wanted to know _how_ you were aware I was up here as well as _why_ you'd follow me here."

The wrinkles in Makoto's forehead deepened. "That's… no, that's exactly what I told you," he responded. "I mean… _isn't_ it?"

Kyoko sighed. "Forget it. Let's start again from the top. _How_ did Maizano know I was here?"

"Well, she is psychic, you know," Makoto answered, smiling a little.

"No she _isn't_ ," Kyoko insisted quickly, exasperated.

Simultaneously, they both added: "She just has really good intuition."

Makoto grinned broadly and said "Jinx!" as soon as they finished.

Kyoko's eyes widened a little bit with surprise, and she couldn't help but smile back at him. "Heh," she said softly. "She does say that a lot."

"And if you still want to know _why_ I'd come up here," Makoto said, smiling shyly as he stepped closer to her, "Well, why _wouldn't_ I? My friend is cold and alone."

Makoto reached out and placed the blanket on Kyoko's shoulders, wrapping it gently around her. "Oh," Kyoko murmured. "Thank you… again, that is."

Makoto saw Kyoko's cheeks turn a bright pink as he wrapped her in the blanket, and he frowned. "Looks like your face is getting windburned," he said worriedly. "Hrm. I should've brought you a scarf."

Kyoko chuckled. "No, you've done enough," she assured him. "You're… very thoughtful."

Makoto rubbed his own arms up and down to stay warm. "Hey, guess what?" he said. He nodded at the expanse of roof behind her. "I just learned that the new building has a _helipad_!"

Kyoko was unable to stop herself from giggling. " _Wow_ ," she said. "You're an _unbelievable_ dork."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Makoto answered happily. "Why _are_ you up here, anyway, Kiri?"

Kyoko looked towards the sky. "Kizakura and my father took off from here this morning. They'd planned a day trip to implore a particularly stubborn candidate for next year's class to accept their invitation."

"There are prospects who actually _reject_ Hope's Peak?!" Makoto said in shock.

Kyoko half-smiled at him and explained, "Nothing in the world is universally beloved, Naegi."

Casting her eyes back to the sky, she sat down on the hard ground and placed her coffee to the side. Kyoko then wrapped the blanket tighter around herself before continuing, "At any rate, they were supposed to return five hours ago." She took a deep breath. "They haven't called, either."

Makoto looked down at her and frowned. "I see," he said gently. His teeth were chattering slightly. "Do y-you want some company?"

Kyoko glanced over and raised one eyebrow at him. "I'm perfectly capable of waiting by myself," she said firmly.

Makoto just nodded and shivered in the wind. "I g-gotcha," he said. "And y-you know, I'm sure they'll be back any minute. You s-stay warm, okay?"

He turned and headed back towards the door. However, he only made it as far as touching the handle.

"To be honest," Kyoko said suddenly, twisting herself to look back at him. "I wouldn't mind a little company. … Not that I _need_ any, of course."

Makoto looked back at her and smiled brightly. "Uh, of course!" he agreed. Quickly, he jogged back over to her location and sat down on the concrete to the left of her.

Kyoko had a muted smile on her face as she watched him rubbing the legs of his jeans for warmth. "You're colder than I am," she observed. "Why don't _you_ use this blanket?" She started to unwrap it from her shoulders while continuing, "You're the one who brought it, after all."

"N-n-no way!" Makoto insisted, shivering and chattering his teeth. "I brought it for _you_ , and you've b-been out here w-way longer than I h-have."

Kyoko rolled her eyes. " _Fine_ ," she groused. She scooted over until her left side was pressed against his right, and then she crouched on her knees so she could wrap the left side of the blanket around his shoulders, with the other still around her right side.

Makoto watched with wide eyes as she sat back down and pulled the right corner of the blanket around herself, then leaned over and pulled the left corner over him in return. "There we go," she said finally. "All bundled up."

He smiled affectionately and visibly blushed. "Thanks, really," he said. As he felt the sensation of her body leaning on his, he muttered, "Um, you're warm."

"Yes, that's the idea," Kyoko told him, looking down at the red blanket they now shared. "We'll share our body heat and use the blanket to keep it contained." Turning her head, she saw his smile and returned her own. "We're an all-natural self-sustaining heater now."

Makoto chuckled. "Where'd you learn that?" he asked. "Is that like, a detective trick?"

Kyoko shook her head. "Not at all," she said. "I learned it from my grandfather's cat sneaking under the covers and falling asleep next to me throughout my youth. And that animal was like a hairy little furnace, I assure you."

They shared a small laugh over that, staring at one other as they did so. Makoto couldn't wipe the smile from his face even after they grew quiet once more.

"Y'know," Makoto ventured, "I've been wanting to tell you that I'm really glad you and your dad managed to reconnect."

Kyoko lowered her head slightly, "Me too, although things are far from perfect. Still… we have time to work it out."

Looking back up at Makoto, Kyoko leaned a little to her left and pressed herself more against Makoto. " _I_ wanted to say that I'm glad you're here," she said softly. "With me, I mean. I apologize if I was a bit rude earlier."

Makoto shook his head a bit too rapidly, making it look almost like a muscle spasm. "No! Not at all!" he told her vehemently.

Kyoko's smile grew broader. "You're far too kind, Naegi," she said. "But then… that's precisely what I like about you."

Makoto gave her a massive grin. "Yeah?" he pressed.

Kyoko looked into his eyes and echoed, "Yeah."


	6. Cookies

"One-hundred and seventy-five degrees Celsius," Kyoko murmured to herself. She adjusted the oven's temperature dial accordingly.

She turn turned and grabbed the cookie sheet off of the island and eyed each of her 20 dollops of dough carefully, judging them to be roughly equivalent before she turned and grabbed her cell phone off the edge of the counter. Upon opening the phone to the Timer, she entered "5:00″ and started the countdown, then set it back onto the counter.

She turned around and peered through the oven window, at which point she discovered that she couldn't see the bottom of the oven at all from the provided angle due to some kind of mesh over the glass obscuring her view. To get around that, Kyoko opened the oven quickly and checked the bottom, noting to herself that the heating elements had not yet begun to glow. When she shut the door again, it slammed closed harder than she'd intended, generating a loud _whom_ sound.

It was only a few seconds before she heard footsteps approaching. "What're you doing in here?" Makoto's voice called as he rounded the corner and entered the kitchen. His face lit up with glee when he caught sight of the cookie sheet. "Are those _cookies?_ " he asked excitedly, reaching up with his right hand to poke at a lump of dough.

Kyoko swiftly grabbed Makoto's hand and redirected it to her side. "No," she answered firmly. "They are not yet cookies, because cookies have to be _cooked_."

"I guess the name sorta implies that," Makoto acknowledged.

"It's actually derived from a Dutch term for little cakes," Kyoko retorted. "But if the other explanation keeps you from eating unbaked cookie dough, I'll accept it as an alternative."

Makoto's eyes met hers, and he smiled affectionately at her. "Since when do you bake, anyway?" he teased.

"Since tonight," Kyoko answered, returning his smile. "I'm trying to expand my skillset."

Makoto pulled out his other hand and held it aloft, wiggling his fingers excitedly. "Come on," he pleaded, "Just _one_ lump of cookie dough?"

Kyoko smirked and shook her head. "You mean a lump of _potential disease_ , and the number of _those_ you're going to get is exactly zero."

"Whatever," Makoto said, rolling his eyes. "That's just an old myth."

"In truth, an American woman died just a few years ago after contracting e. coli from cookie dough," Kyoko informed him. She finally let go of his hand before asking, "Who or what gave you the impression that the danger was made up?"

"Hagakure," Makoto answered sheepishly.

Kyoko scoffed, holding back a giggle over his admission. "You might want to locate a different source for life-and-death information," she advised him, shaking her head in bemusement.

"Sure, sure," Makoto added, nodding furiously. "But the odds of infection have to be pretty low, right? I mean, everybody does it!"

"I'm against it if there's even a chance," Kyoko said.

As she spoke, Makoto turned his head away from her for a moment, raising his right hand towards his face… but he wasn't fast enough. Kyoko spotted the dough that he'd mashed onto one finger.

"NO!" she yelled, reaching her left hand towards his right arm. Makoto attempted to spin clockwise in order to avoid her, but he just wound up rotating his left arm into her _right_ hand instead. Upon grabbing his arm successfully, she pulled it away from his face.

"Not cool! AMBUSH!" Makoto yelped, laughing hysterically. Kyoko managed to grab his other wrist as well, causing him to repeat his cry of "AMBUUUUSH!" amidst his own laughter.

" _You_ ambushed _me!_ " Kyoko noted pointedly. She cracked a grin at how goofy the entire scenario was, yet she still continued, "I was just minding my own business in here when you swung in like a ravenous beast."

"My parents always let us take a bite of the dough," Makoto insisted. "Ask Komaru!" He tried to use the conversation as a distraction to push his wrists free of her hands, but all he could do was flail helplessly.

"Historic precedent does not guarantee solid judgement," she told him, giggling at the futility of his escape attempt. Kyoko glanced down at the timer on her phone. Though its backlight had dimmed, she could still clearly make out that her timer had almost reached 3:00.

"It's just three more minutes!" she asserted to Makoto while struggling to hold him. "Then I can put these in the oven, and you can wait another eight minutes for them to bake."

"That's _11 minutes!_ " Makoto replied in mock-disbelief. "Nations could rise and fall in that time! We'll all be dead from severe cookie withdrawl by then!"

"Then I'll revive you with mouth-to-mouth," Kyoko answered with a knowing smile. "I'll even slip you some extra chocolate chips to help you recover your energy. Do we have a deal?"

Makoto narrowed his eyes at her, barely suppressing his desire to smile. "Your terms are acceptable," he said quietly. "But I don't know if I can _really_ trust you unless we kiss over it."

Kyoko let a guffaw slip out. "Is that standard procedure for peace treaties?" she asked him incredulously.

"Absolutely!" Makoto affirmed as he grinned from ear-to-ear. "In fact, y'know what? Historians say we could've achieved peace in the Middle East _decades_ ago if we just made everybody smooch for a while."

Kyoko shook her head, still smiling. "It's a wonder _anyone_ takes you seriously," she said.

"At least you believed me when I proposed," Makoto said, and he leaned in for a kiss.

"If you try to grab any dough while we're kissing," Kyoko warned him, "I _swear_ to you I _will_ -"

She lost the rest of her sentence as he pulled her towards him and kissed her hard on her mouth. She pulled him up against her in kind, tilting her head sideways so as to deepen the kiss.

When they broke apart, Makoto stayed close with his face tilted up towards her. He stared into her eyes as he quietly said, "Um… Kyoko?"

"Yes?" she asked gently, a quizzical expression on her face.

"All of a sudden, I, um… I don't care about the cookies," he confessed, blushing slightly. Then he leaned forward and started to kiss down her neck.

She closed her eyes and smiled. "Huh," she whispered. "It seems I'm losing interest, too."


	7. Visitation Rights

"Archaic rules," Byakuya muttered derisively as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"What'd you find out?" Kyoko asked. Makoto shuffled his feet uncomfortablly behind her.

"The hospital won't allow any of us to go see Asahina or learn details of her condition," Byakuya told her. "It seems only immediate family is granted access outside of the standard visiting hours."

"Those begin at 5 p.m," Makoto piped up. "I saw a sign… "

Kyoko furrowed her brow in irritation. "That's too long," she sighed.

"You have a remote meeting with the other branch heads scheduled for the same time," Byakuya noted to Kyoko. "It's wisest for us to move on. It's not like Asahina won't receive perfectly adequate care regardless of our presence."

Kyoko shot him an irritated look, then started walking towards the nurses' station. Makoto followed behind her, both concerned and confused. "Uh, Kiri?" he asked. "What are you-"

"Sir," Kyoko said by way of greeting as she stepped up to the counter. The middle-aged nurse behind the counter managed to smile half-heartedly, but he didn't get to reply before Kyoko continued, "Are you aware that in the post-Despair world, many survivors are without immediate blood relatives?"

"Ah," the nurse responded, his face falling. "You must be friends with Mr. 'Heir to the Togami Family' over there." He gestured dismissively towards Byakuya before adding, "I'll tell you the same thing I told him: I'm sorry, but it's hospital policy, just as it has been for decades."

"And how closely related do the family members need to be?" Kyoko prodded.

The nurse narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Not terribly close… " he murmured.

"In that case, perhaps you can grant me entry," Kyoko suggested. "I'm Asahina-san's half-sister."

"Buh-!" Makoto sputtered before silencing himself and putting on a forced smile. The nurse gave him a dirty look.

Kyoko pulled out her Future Foundation ID card to show to the man at the station. "We had different fathers," she lied, "Hence the variance in our surnames."

"Uh-huh," the nurse said skeptically. He smirked as he looked over at Makoto and asked, "I suppose that makes you her long-lost half-brother?"

"Um, yes?" Makoto answered uncertainly. "Er, half-brother- _in-law_ , actually!" he added with more confidence. He then put an arm around Kyoko's waist as he explained, "See, I'm married to Kiri-that is, _Kyoko_ here."

Kyoko's face turned beet red. "Yes," she said robotically as she kept her eyes locked with the nurse's. "This… is my husband, Makoto Naegi." Makoto blushed at her statement but kept up his most convincing smile. (Which was not, in fact, a very convincing one.)

The nurse couldn't stop smirking. "I'll need to confirm this, of course," he said knowingly as he picked up the station's phone. The nurse dialed in a few numbers. Makoto's arm dropped from Kyoko's waist as he realized this plot was about to fall apart.

Kyoko turned her head to look at Makoto, who was already sweating nervously. She grabbed his hand in hers and said, "That's fine" — both as an acknowledgement of the nurse's declaration and as reassurance to Makoto. She lightly nodded at the shorter boy, maintaining a cool demeanor. He managed a tight smile but was quite clearly not feeling as confident as her.

"Yes Asahina-san, I have a couple here who claim to be your relatives," the nurse said. "Your half-sister and her husband, evidently. Can you confirm their names?"

Makoto and Kyoko shared a small smile at the realization that Asahina was at least conscious and able to talk.

The nurse's sarcastic smirk vanished and his face fell. "Yes," he said. His eyes flicked over to Naegi and Kirigiri before he finished with, "That's correct. I'm sorry for the trouble, ma'am. You understand the policy. Yes, I'll send them right down."

As he hung up the phone, Makoto exhaled heavily. The nurse said, "Take the two double doors on the right. Six doors down, she's in 608 on your left. I'll buzz you through."

Kyoko gave him a small, satisfied smile and simply told him, "Thank you." She walked off, leading a befuddled Makoto by the hand. "Come on, dear," she prompted him, earning a nervous chuckle in return.

As the double doors unlocked and Kyoko pushed them open, Makoto muttered, "I can't believe that worked."

"Neither can _I_ ," she admitted. "Your game face is _terrible_."

"Uh, heh, yeah," Makoto conceded. He rubbed the back of his head with his free hand as he asked, "But Hina - she backed us up?"

"Evidently," Kyoko said, shrugging.

"And she knew it was _us_?" he asked.

" _Evidently_ ," Kyoko repeated.

They turned and entered room 608 to see Aoi Asahina laying alone in bed, looking tired but otherwise functional. "Hey, you guuuuys!" she sang out weakly.

"Asahina-san," Kyoko greeted her with a genuine smile. "I'm really happy to see that you're doing well."

"Hey!" Makoto said back to Hina. "It's great to see you, but… how'd you know it was _us_ out there?"

"Come _on_ ," Asahina said with an affectionate grin. "You were pretending to be a couple. I only know two people both willing and able to pull _that_ off."

Both Kyoko and Makoto blushed deeply, neither daring to look at the other.

Asahina looked down a little, and her smile brightened even more. "Oh my god, you're even keeping it up _right now!_ " she noted gleefully as she pointed at the space between them.

Looking down, both of them realized they were still holding hands.


	8. Teasing & Tickling

Within one of the old faculty buildings on the east side of the Hope's Peak campus, inside a former office converted into a makeshift bedroom, Kyoko Kirigiri and Makoto Naegi were lying in a basic double bed.

Even though the clock had passed midnight more than an hour ago, they were both very much awake. They were also naked, sweaty, and exhausted from recent shared activities.

The couple laid on their sides beneath the thin bedsheet, arms wrapped around each other with their faces only inches apart. "Mmmmmm," Kyoko hummed happily with her eyes closed.

Makoto was staring at her lovingly when he nervously asked, "Ahh… do you think anyone heard us?"

Kyoko opened her eyes with a giggle. "You _always_ ask that," she pointed out.

"Only because you get louder every time!" Makoto replied defensively.

Kyoko couldn't keep her smile from growing. "I do _not_ ," she insisted with a tiny grin. "It's a trick of perception. We always wind up with my legs wrapped around your waist and my head up by your shoulders. In other words, you merely _think_ I'm loud because I'm screaming next to your ear."

" _Screaming_ is the operative word there, I'd say," Makoto noted, letting out a small laugh. "I just don't want to bother any of the crew that's working the morning shift. We've still got a long way to go if we're gonna be ready to open in the spring."

Kyoko smirked mischievously at him. "In spite of your concerns for their well-being, I'm sensing that you don't really _mind_ the noise," she observed.

"No!" Makoto began before he realized how confusing that response probably sounded. "What I mean is, you're right!" he admitted. "It's actually… um, the sounds you make are r _eally_ sexy." His voice grew noticeably quieter on the last couple of words.

When she heard how his voice lowered, Kyoko's smile took on an air of disbelief. "You're legitimately astonishing, Makoto," she told him, clearly amused. "Here you are, naked in my arms after making passionate love to me, yet you still can't say the word 'sex' without acting like a nervous middle-schooler."

"H-hey!" Makoto yelped, suddenly blushing. "Don't make fun!"

She narrowed her eyes as though observing his face closely. "Now I'm curious," she said. "When your face blushes, how much of the remainder of your body follows suit?"

"Er, _what?_ " Makoto blurted anxiously.

Before he could ask her to explain herself further, Kyoko's head disappeared beneath the sheet.

"Sorry for leaving on short notice," Makoto heard Kyoko say. "I'm afraid this demands further investigation."

"Hey, no!" Makoto pleaded with a laugh. He started to try and push himself backwards, easing his way towards the side of the bed so that he could escape. However, before he could make it out of bed, he felt Kyoko's hair brushing up against the side of his chest. It tickled him on contact, and he quickly slapped his right hand over his mouth to cover his giggles. A few seconds later, he could feel her kissing his chest.

Regardless of the hand he held over his mouth, Makoto couldn't stop himself from giggling uncontrollably at the feeling of Kyoko's hair sweeping across his torso. In a few more moments, he was biting his hand to try and stop himself from exploding into a laughing fit. After a full minute had passed, he finally released his hand from his mouth and laughed aloud, kicking his feet helplessly as he pleaded "S-s-top! I give!" in-between breaths.

Kyoko slithered up through the sheets so she could poke her head out to look at him. " _Come_ now," she said playfully. "The Ultimate Hope that inspired the world _surrenders_ after a single minute of tickling and chest-kisses? I have to say that I expected more."

"Oh yeah?!" Makoto said cockily. "Let's see how well _you_ hold up under tickle-torture!"

"Not a chance!" Kyoko called defiantly as she disappeared back under the sheet.

Makoto yanked the primary sheet up over himself as he slid his body down towards the foot of the bed

Plenty of light was shining through the thin sheet in such a way that let him clearly recognize the shadowy shape of Kyoko's body. "So…it seems you tailed me here after my initial attack," Kyoko declared mock-dramatically. Her eyes glinted as the light leaked through the threads of the sheet and fell across her face. She smiled demurely and continued, "It was a clever plan, Naegi, but now you have nowhere else to go."

"Oh, I _know_ where I'm going!" Makoto fired back confidently. He leaned forward and starting to run his fingers up and down along the ribs on her right side.

"What're you-AH! Hee, heh, haha NO!" Kyoko cried as she tried futilely to fight back uncontrollable laughter.

Inevitably, the next morning brought the rest of the crew two very sleepy project leaders. One inquisitive crew member asked them if they were kept awake by the strange yelling she'd heard around the faculty building. As she gulped down her coffee with one hand, Kirigiri merely waved her other hand dismissively and suggested that the noise was "probably macaques."


	9. If You Knew

Neither of them were likely forget the day that Makoto received that call. Kyoko could tell how bad the news was when she first caught sight of Makoto on the other side of the 14 branch's central command room, all of the color drained out of his face as he listened numbly to his phone. Her first instinct was to immediately rush to his side, but instead she forced herself to calmly and carefully walk across the room, only catching the tail end of his conversation as she stepped up beside him.

"I understand," Makoto had said weakly. "Thanks… for letting me know."

She could see him trembling as he lowered his cell phone and pressed the "End Call" button on the phone's display. She'd asked him gently who the caller was, and when he had hoarsely said it was Naka from the sixth branch, Kyoko rapidly filled in the rest of the blanks herself.

Naka was overseeing the ongoing search through the major buildings in Towa City, hunting down unidentified victims of Monaca Towa's recent incident as well as any materials the Future Foundation could use. Given what Komaru had told the Future Foundation about her battle against Monaca Towa and the things that the young girl had shown her, the conclusion was obvious: the sixth division had located Naegi's parents.

At least, whatever was left of them.

* * *

Four days later, Makoto was seated in the chair on the other side of her Kyoko's desk in her office aboard the 14th branch's primary ship. He claimed he was ready for an assignment.

"You must be looking forward to seeing Komaru again," Kyoko responded. "Video calls are nice, but they can't compare with a physical reunion. It's too bad that the circumstances of said reunion aren't better, of course."

Makoto looked confused. "Uh, did you hear me? I said that I want to get back to work," he repeated.

"I heard you," she explained as she leaned back in her chair. "I'm mulling it over."

"You can't _force_ me to extend my leave," Makoto continued defiantly. "I need to save that time off for when we reach Towa City, anyway."

"This isn't a corporation, Naegi," Kyoko said with a smirk. "Leave can be as long or as short as is logical based upon my personal discretion, and I don't have to answer to some human resources department. Besides, it's not like I'm going I'm going to dock your pay for attending to your needs. We want your wits about you when you're representing the Future Foundation, after all. As such, you should take as much time as is necessary to get back to 100%."

"You know me," Makoto insisted. "You know I can move forward through _anything_ and keep my chin up. So if I only need to take what's necessary, then I've already taken enough.

"Perhaps," Kyoko conceded. "But you don't _have_ to power through this like you did with the tragedies we endured at Hope's Peak. So perhaps you're just trying to avoid thinking about your loss. Take it from someone with experience: Avoidance or powering through something by force is no substitute for facing your grief head-on."

"Well, you're not _wrong_ ," Makoto admitted. "I _do_ want to get my mind off of things. But isn't that natural? Healthy, even?" He sighed heavily before adding, "I don't want to dwell on regrets all the time."

Kyoko frowned, but managed to keep her reaction to only that. The idea of Makoto sitting and wallowing in a combination of grief and regret made her feel sick inside, but she was able to mask the sympathetic pains she felt. "Regrets?" she inquired in an even tone. "Are they anything you're comfortable talking about?"

Makoto looked away and stared at the nearby wall. After a pause, he said, "Oh, you know. I wish I'd gotten to speak to them one more time, so I could remind them how much… how much I loved them. _Or_ I wish I could remember any of the times we spoke while I was at Hope's Peak." He smiled ruefully and glanced downward before he continued in a soft tone, "The truth is, I feel pretty guilty about it."

"About not remembering?" Kyoko asked.

"Not that," Makoto clarified, turning back to face her. "I just mean about them getting wrapped up in this — about this whole damn thing. If my luck hadn't gotten me into Hope's Peak, they never would've become a target for Enoshima. They never would've been captured, tortured… they're dead now because of my 'lucky' invite."

Makoto leaned his head back and stretched out his neck as he stared up towards the ceilling. "Some luck it turned out to be, huh? Jeez… sometimes I wish I'd ripped up that letter from Hope's Peak."

Kyoko flinched slightly after he said that, and her eyes narrowed instinctively in reaction to the pain she felt in her stomach. The longer she'd known him, the harder it was for her to see Makoto depressed and beating himself up. It wasn't merely upsetting to see him acting in a way that was so unlike his usual optimistic nature, however. It was more that his sadness naturally transmitted to her because of how deeply she cared about his well-being. It was something she'd found herself increasingly unable to avoid: seeing him happy filled her with joy, and seeing him miserable filled her with despair.

Kyoko put her hands together over her desk and steepled her fingers. "I'm a firm believer that whatever happens to us happens in the only way that it can," she stated.

Makoto looked at her askance. "You mean you believe in fate?" he asked.

"Not exactly," she countered. "I simply don't believe in a branching multiverse, whether you get there via string theory or black holes or whatever you like. But let's ignore for the moment that there's no use in wishing to change the past. If you _could_ alter the past, I hope you understand that if you hadn't come to Hope's Peak, you could very well be dead," she told him. "There's no guarantee that your entire family wouldn't have been killed as the tragedy engulfed the world — yourself and Komaru included. In addition, all of our class would've likely died in Enoshima's mutual killing game if you weren't there to inspire us and push us forward. "

Makoto lifted his head and furrowed his brow, considering her words.

"Taking those facts into account, please reconsider your perspective," Kyoko continued. "If you could go back in time, and you knew this was going to happen — that you'd find yourself in this exact situation — would you live your life differently? Would you really tear up your letter from Hope's Peak as you suggested, and stay home to protect your family?

She saw a spark of inspiration glinting in Makoto's eyes. He turned and stared, locking eyes with her, and a small smile crept across his face. Kyoko was unable to stop herself: She reflexively smiled back at him despite not knowing why.

With renewed determination, Makoto said, "Actually, Kiri… you're right. I'm taking it back; the answer is 'no'. I definitely _wouldn't_ change my life, even if I could."

Kyoko felt instant relief from the pain in her stomach. "I'm glad to hear it," she said as her smile grew, "Because that means you understand how your current life has already made a positive difference for a lot of people — myself included."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't change my mind because of what you said about my impact on others," Makoto said, glancing down shyly. "I mean, I kind of _wish_ that was why, but honestly? It was a much more selfish reason than that."

Kyoko tilted her head a little. "Why the change of heart, then?" she inquired.

He glanced back at Kyoko, his cheeks turning slightly pink as he answered, "Because of you. If I never came to Hope's Peak, I never would've met you. And, honestly… there's nothing and no one anyone could ever give me that would be worth losing you from my life. That's not to diminish how much my family means to me, of course. But it's just… I mean… you're… you're priceless, somehow."

Kyoko's jaw fell slightly open as though she was about to say something, but no words came out.

Makoto closed his eyes, smiling confidently. "Thanks again, Kiri. You've been a _huge_ help to me while I'm dealing with this."

"You're… welcome… ?" she responded, suddenly feeling lost. Her cheeks turned bright pink.

Makoto stood up from the chair and adjusted his tie. "You let me know when you want me to work. I can take it or leave it, I suppose." He stepped over towards her door while adding, "Whatever you think is best is fine. I trust your judgment."

"Makoto… " Kyoko murmured quietly.

He turned around to see Kyoko looking up at him, smiling joyfully even as he cheeks practically glowed red.

"I wouldn't trade you for anything, either," she said quietly. "Not even if I could. No matter what."


	10. Sparring

Once again, Kyoko Kirigiri was deep in thought.

After a few moments, she lowered her hand from her chin. "All right," she began, "How about this? Think of combat like a game of Janken... "

Makoto half-smiled at her, looking a little apologetic. "Actually," he explained, "You've told me that one before."

Kyoko frowned slightly. "Very well," she said. "Have we discussed how to take a punch?"

"Only a little!" Makoto said a bit too eagerly. "And I tend to get punched a _lot_ in these sessions," he added with a small laugh. "So maybe start there today?"

The two friends were standing on a padded mat in the midst of one of Future Foundation's small training rooms, both dressed in athletic garb that maximized their flexibility and padded their knees and hands. Every member of the Foundation was expected to have some basic self-defense training to prepare them for dealing with a world overrun by Despair. As such, each member of the recently recruited Hope's Peak survivors was required to prove their existing skills or, at the very least, undergo training to obtain some.

Kirigiri, Asahina, and Togami had all been able to demonstrate reasonable skill. Togami had learned some efficient forms of self-defense in order to ward off or defeat the other potential heirs to the Togami conglomerate. Asahina had dabbled in Greco-Roman wrestling as part of her many athletic endeavors, which made her a solid threat in close quarters.

That left only Hagakure, Fukawa, and Naegi. The even number made it an easy decision to pair one skilled survivor with one novice. Kyoko opted to try and pass her skills onto Makoto - a partnership that surprised absolutely no one else among the group. She'd spent a lot of time teaching Makoto various strikes, takedowns, and tricks that he was now able to replicate with ease. Despite her best efforts, however, Makoto had yet to take down or pin Kyoko even one time across their many weeks of training.

It was a personal goal for Kyoko to see her student overcome her at least once, but she was beginning to believe it was a foolish one. After all, he was at an obvious disadvantage — he was shorter, for one thing, which limited his reach. And even more problematic was Kyoko's own skill level. She was clearly the best combatant out of the six members of their surviving class, yet she didn't want to hold back just for Makoto's benefit.

Makoto was always trying to get her to explain things in a different fashion or teach him something new, ever hopeful that the next lesson would be the one to magically "click" and take him to the next level. Over time, Kyoko soon began struggling to think of new ways to present the same information, and Makoto grew progressively more frustrated that he couldn't take her down.

She was starting to suspect that the problem wasn't with Makoto — it was with her expectations.

Kyoko dropped into a fighting pose, raising her arms to a guarded position. "A blow to the face is disorienting and damaging, plus it's virtually guaranteed to be the place your opponent aims for initially. Try to shift your body to take a blow to the shoulder, if possible, or even the forehead. Both are preferable to a hit on the jaw, nose, or cheek"

Makoto attempted to mirror her pose. "At my height? The forehead seems most likely," he commented.

She allowed herself a small smile before continuing. "If the punch connects, let your body sway with the blow regardless of where it hits. That'll lessen the damage of the impact."

Kyoko stepped forward and threw a punch towards him with her right hand. Makoto sidestepped to her left, at which point she threw her left hand forward quickly. He managed to jerk his head to the side, letting the side of her fist barely scrape his shoulder and neck.

"That's good," Kyoko said with a tight smile.

"Anticipation," Makoto responded confidently. "You mention it every time! 'Try to anticipate a feint by using your opponent's psychology,' right?"

"So did you anticipate that from what you know of my psychology," Kyoko asked with a smirk, "Or did you just learn from how many times I've successfully pulled a feint on you?"

"Don't act so cocky!" Makoto said with a grin.

He jumped forward, attempting to thrust his right knee knee towards her, but Kyoko took a quick step back and shoved outward with her palms, pushing the knee down and forcing him to take a knee on the pad.

"Damn!" he yelled as he hit the mat.

Kyoko swiftly crouched and sprung forward, shoving her hands onto his forearms and tipping him back, pinning him to the mat. He cried out "Oof!" while Kyoko merely grunted slightly.

With her legs weighing his down and Makoto's arms held to his side, they both sighed.

"Sorry," Kyoko said sincerely. "But I'm confident you can do better."

Makoto merely nodded, his jaw locked in frustration.

Kyoko gave him a sympathetic smile. "I know it seems like I've stopped you countless times," she told him, "But you really are improving with each effort."

"Actually," Makoto responded with a wry smile. "I _have_ counted them."

Kyoko frowned a little and moved off to the side, releasing him from the pin. "Don't be so hard on yourself," she said. "You've got to think defensively," she reminded him.

"I know," Makoto mumbled, standing upright again.

"Your height makes aggressive offense a poor-"

"I _know_ ," Makoto repeated, clearly irritated by the latest loss. "Geez, Kiri — You're only seven centimeters taller than me!"

"It's not much," she acknowledged as she stood up. "But it's enough to make a difference in reach. Just imagine if you were fighting against Hagakure-kun."

"Isn't that almost the same as fighting you? I mean, his extra height is just the hair," he noted with a smile. "Doesn't count."

Kyoko chuckled both at his wisecrack and from the pleasant surprise that he was still in good spirits. "You know, we can always have you train with Togami-kun or Asahina-san, if you prefer," she offered.

Makoto's face fell a bit. "D-don't say that," he told her. "I'm actually glad it's _you_ kicking my ass."

Kyoko held her smile on him and stared into his eyes as she fell into her fighting posture. "In that case, are you ready to get it kicked for a 37th time?"

Makoto jerked his head back in shock. "I knew it!" he yelped. "You _have_ been count-"

Kyoko lunged at him, but Makoto dropped to all fours. As soon as she realized she was about to overreach, she tried to slow her momentum and skid her feet to a stop - but Makoto smoothly frog-hopped forward and reached out for her legs, grabbing her by the thighs and pulling on them in order to keep her coming. The forward pitch was inevitable, and as she started to fall forward and over his back, she attempted to tuck herself into a ball so that she could roll away from him once she hit the mat behind his back. Makoto, however, maintained his hold on her legs, preventing her from pulling her knees in. In an instance, she knew she couldn't tuck, and instinctively reached out to catch herself with both hands. As soon as she reached the ground, however, Makoto pushed her legs upwards as hard as he could.

Kyoko flipped end over end, slamming hard onto her back behind him. With the wind knocked out of her, she was unable to get up before Makoto spun and moved back to her, quickly jumping on top of her to pin her arms and legs.

They were both panting to catch their breath for a full minute. Their cheeks were red now — either from the exertion or from their closeness to one another, with Makoto's face just a few inches away from hers as he held her arms over her head and weighed down her legs with his knees.

Kyoko's expression was one of shock, whereas Makoto appeared overjoyed. Between breaths, finally Kyoko choked, "You... you... "

"I got you," Makoto whispered, having almost caught his breath.

Kyoko smiled a unusually broad smile, feeling her face radiate with heat. She'd gotten what she wanted.

Then, Makoto leaned in and pressed his mouth against hers. And in an instant, she'd gotten even more.

Kyoko felt his arms go limp as he kissed her, and as soon as she could, she shoved his hands away and wrapped her arms around his back so that she could pull him even tighter against her body. Makoto let his hands run down her sides, neither of them caring about their body heat or the thin layer of sweat they'd worked up.

Makoto broke off the kiss. "S-sorry," he gasped. "I dunno what made me-"

"Don't be sorry," Kyoko said, unable to stop herself from grinning. "That was perfect."

Makoto looked confused. "Um, y-you mean the pin, or the-"

"All of it," she told him softly as she stared into his eyes. "Do you... wanna try again?"

Makoto's face beamed with joy. "You bet I do," he confirmed.

He leaned in and picked up where they left off.

* * *

 **This one came from an idea from a friend, so thanks to sara190601.**


	11. Head vs Heart

Aoi Asahina kicked her legs idly. The barstools that she and Kyoko Kirigiri were seated at provided both of them with enough room to dangle their feet, and the sensation reminded Asahina of sitting on a swing as a little girl. It made her feel more playful.

"How's Naegi?" Asahina asked teasingly.

By now, Kyoko Kirigiri knew this question was inevitable whenever they got together. "He's fine," Kyoko answered flatly.

Hina put her elbows up on the white table between them and leaned forward conspiratorially. "You two do anything fun lately?" she inquired.

Kyoko sighed but responded nevertheless. "We watched a movie last night," she told the other woman. " _High and Low_. It's an older film, a crime story. Naegi-kun suggested it."

"How thoughtful," Hina cooed. "Aaaaand?" she pressed.

"I thought it was pretty good," Kyoko answered.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Hina said sternly. "I meant: did anything _happen_ during that movie?"

Knowing that she could no longer avoid the issue, Kyoko just scoffed, "Of course not."

Hina groaned, shut her eyes, and hung her head.

"I sincerely thought you'd have let this go by now," Kyoko said, sounding a bit irritated. "Why are you so invested in my relationship with Naegi-kun, anyway?"

Hina raised her head and scowled at her friend. "Why aren't _you_?" she demanded. "You try to play it all cool, but I can see the signs! If he touches you, you blush like a schoolgirl! And every time he's not looking directly at you, you're staring at him like he's the center of your world."

Kyoko half-smiled. "Perhaps I'm just not used to direct physical contact with the opposite sex," she suggested. "Or maybe I'm just staring in his general direction while lost in thought, and you're reading too much into it."

Hina folded her arms and sat up straight. "There's more!" she declared. "How about the way you start to play with your braid whenever he makes eye contact with you?"

Kyoko glanced away from her friend, exhaling heavily. "Circumstantial evidence at best," she groused.

"That's just the stuff _you_ do, of course," Hina continued. "I mean, if you're being _kind of_ obvious about your feelings, then Naegi-kun is being _super-double-extra_ obvious. You two have it _bad_ for each other."

Kyoko narrowed her eyes accusingly at Hina. "I have plenty on my plate right now. I certainly don't need to spend my time discussing _boys,_ " she grumbled. "Women of our caliber shouldn't need to hinge our conversations around such things — especially not when I've made it clear that I don't want to talk about it. Let's just move on, all right? This whole conversation is failing the Bechdel test."

"Screw your plate and screw Bechdel!" Hina replied, raising her voice. "I'm not pushing you on this because I'm boy-crazy, I'm pushing you on it because I want my friend to be _happy_!" She sounded adamant and desperate as she said, "You _can't_ just make your work your whole life. What would it hurt for you to ask him out on a date some time? Just... just give it a try!"

Kyoko put her coffee cup down and looked Asahina in the eyes. "Fine," she said. "Do you want the _real_ truth as to why I won't ask Naegi-kun out?"

" _Yes_ ," Hina said firmly. "Explain to me why you don't want to be happy!"

Kyoko folded her hands and placed them on the table. "Very well," she said. She sounded utterly calm as she explained, "It's because I don't want to be forgetful of being so overjoyed when I see him every day. I don't want to lose the feelings I have when I'm with him. I'm scared of being happy due to the cost of what's going to happen when I'm _not_. I don't want to love him and lose him because of it."

Hina's mouth dropped slightly open. Kyoko narrowed her eyes. "And you're not wrong about my feelings," she continued, her voice practically a monotone. "Something inside of me twitches every time he smiles at me. I feel a rush of endorphins when I hear him laugh. My day improves markedly just by spending a few minutes with him. I see a strength in him that I'm not even sure _I_ possess sometimes. His determination inspires me. It motivates me. And that — _all_ of that — is _precisely_ why there's no way I would ever risk losing him."

By this point, Asahina was staring at her friend in disbelief, tears forming at the bottom of her eyes. "How can you be like this?!" she demanded through gritted teeth. "You've already broken up with him in your mind before you've even had a chance to _be_ with him!"

"Trust is difficult for me," Kyoko stated quietly. She closed her eyes. "I've experienced enough betrayal that it's... it's hard for me to trust anyone now. That is... not to the level of trust a real relationship would require, at any rate. It's not in my nature to give myself over completely to someone else. If I were to try, I'd only be hurting myself _and_ the other person. Ultimately, my unavoidable doubts will just make them doubt me in turn."

"Give yourself a little _credit,_ dammit!" Hina pleaded. "You can do anything you put your mind towards! I mean... I know that I've got, like, zero percent experience dating, but still! if I found something like what you have with Naegi, I'd sure as heck get off the bench and go for it. If something is _this_ important, you have to try!"

"It _is_ that important," Kyoko interrupted her. She slid off of the barstool, taking her coffee in her hand as she finished, "That's precisely why I won't risk ruining it. Anyway, I've got to go. We can continue this another time. Or, preferably? _Not_."

She turned to leave, her boots making a _clomp_ with each step upon the ceramic tile floor. Hina stared after her with obvious disappointment as Kyoko headed down the hallway and past some columns near the wall of windows. The columns' placement caused alternating beams of shadow and light to fall across the floor.

Kyoko shook her head to herself, still feeling frustrated by the conversation. She'd only gone a few more steps into the hall before she bumped into something - or rather, _someone_ within the shadows. She stumbled for a second, and the unidentified person let out an "oof!" as he slipped and fell.

As she regained her footing, Kyoko turned, ready to demand the identify of the lurker. She quickly discovered that the individual in question had tumbled enough to expose his face to the light.

"N... Naegi-kun," Kyoko whispered. She could see tears in the young man's eyes — more than the amount she'd seen in Asahina's just moments earlier.

In an instant, her mouth felt dry. "How long have you... " she began. She struggled to find her words. "I mean, how much did-"

"Most of it," Makoto admitted hoarsely. "I-I didn't mean to! I was just going to get a drink and I couldn't help it,"

Kyoko closed her eyes and tried to center herself despite feeling suddenly nauseated. "It's... okay... " she said slowly. _Deep breaths_ , she told herself. _You don't really know what he_ -

"Kiri, please," Makoto said after a few moments of silence. He rubbed the tears away from his eyes before saying, "If what I heard was all true then you... we... "

Kyoko hung her head. "Please don't," she whispered. "I'm sorry. I meant what I said."

"You're not the only one in our relationship," he told her. "What we are, what we _could_ be? It's not all up to you."

With her eyes closed and her face still staring down, she responded that "I can't do this, though." Her voice seemed to waver slightly as she insisted, "I _can't_."

"Why _not_?" he asked. He stepped towards her and cleared his throat as best as he could. "If you give up on something before you've even tried it just because you're afraid of what _might_ happen," he suggested, "Isn't that just another way of giving in to despair?"

When she raised her head again, Kyoko opened her eyes once more to find them blurred with her own tears. Blinking them away, she realized that Makoto was just only inches from her face. She inhaled sharply in shock, catching a strong whiff of his scent as she did so.

"I have hope enough for both of us," Makoto said, smiling sadly at her.

Kyoko blinked twice more and mumbled "Makoto" before finally, tentatively giving into her longing and kissing him gently.

It lasted a while, neither wanting the moment to end. When they broke apart, they both still had some tears in their eyes.

Kyoko smiled a little bit in spite of herself herself. "I didn't mean to," she said. "Guess I couldn't help it, either."

"I'm glad you couldn't," Makoto said back, smiling in turn. "Because _I_ can't help that I-" He paused to swallow before saying, "...that I'm in love with you."


	12. A Serious Talk

A cold wind was blowing outside the new Hope's Peak Academy, but things were considerably warmer inside the quarters of headmaster Makoto Naegi. There, Makoto sat on a quilt in front of a gas fireplace, where he was soon joined by his girlfriend - Kyoko Kirigiri.

Makoto was seated with his legs crossed and his hands in his lap. Kyoko sat down with her knees up and her feet on the floor. She looked over and smiled coyly at Makoto as she noted, "Quite the romantic setup."

Makoto laughed a little. "I'm glad you think so," he said, feeling a bit awkward. "I uh... I got you something."

He reached into the center of his lap and withdrew a small, rectangular box with a ribbon on it. "It's nothing big," he prefaced, "But I thought it'd be a nice treat."

Kyoko took the box from him with a curious expression on her face. "What's the occasion?" she asked. "You're a little early for my birthday."

He looked sideways and shrugged before joking, "I guess the occasion is dessert?"

The flickering lights of the fireplace danced across the top of the box, revealing a brand label that Kyoko recognized. Her eyes went wide as she said, "...Chocolat Bonnat?"

"I remembered you said that Fuhito always made it a point to get some whenever he was in France," Makoto said, rubbing the back of his head nervously with one hand. "I heard that Future Foundation's eleventh branch was going to be passing through eastern France, so I made contact and asked them send me a small box. You, ah... you still like it, right?"

Kyoko looked over at him with a sincere, wide grin. "Of course," she assured him quietly. "When we lived in Grenoble for a year, I sneaked far too many of these chocolates into my room _and_ my mouth."

"I'm glad," Makoto said with a grin. "And this time, you won't have to 'sneak' them."

Kyoko leaned over and put one gloved hand on his shoulder as she kissed his mouth gently. "Thank you," she told him. "You're incredibly thoughtful."

"It's not even a very big box," Makoto said dismissively with a chuckle.

Kyoko leaned back into her seat, letting her arm rub against his as she explained, "It's about the gesture, not the expense." She shook her head at him and continued, "Dinner was great, and then you had a fire ready for us, and now this?" One side of her mouth curved into a lopsided smile. I half-suspect you're either leading up to something or buttering me up for something."

Makoto tilted his head to the side a bit, and let out another nervous giggle. "Heh, kind of both," he admitted.

She pretended to look scandalized by the admission even though she couldn't hold back a playful smile. "Why, Headmaster Naegi," she asked jokingly, "Are you trying to seduce me?"

A bit of pink appearing in his cheeks as he answered, "N-no! That is, not _right now_ anyway." Makoto paused and looked into Kyoko's eyes, adding, "I just wanted us to... talk. About some stuff."

Instantly, Kyoko's face fell from a playful smile to its more natural resting state. "I sense that this is the serious kind of 'stuff,'" she ventured.

"Kind of, yeah," Makoto confirmed, his own face having fallen to match. "But the good kind of serious, I hope?"

It was clearly evident how nervous he was about this discussion. Kyoko responded by turning to face him fully, folding her legs beneath her and putting a hand on top of his. "If you have something important you need to tell me or ask me," she said, "then I'm up for anything. Just say what's on your mind."

Makoto appeared to be sweating even before he launched into his questions. "Is this serious for you?" he asked. "I mean, I know you take our relationship seriously, I just mean: Is this relationship as serious for you as it is for me?"

Kyoko was so touched by his concern that she had to bite her lip to keep from grinning at him. "Of _course_ it's serious for me," she said.

"I-I think I asked that wrong," Makoto stammered, talking half to himself.

Kyoko let herself crack a new smile at his shyness. "I love you," she said sincerely. "You know that already."

Somehow, that didn't seem to calm him. He stared into her eyes and said, "And you know I love _you_. I just mean... I know neither of us has really had a serious relationship before this, and I just worry... "

Kyoko closed her eyes and nodded once as she began to understand. She gave his hand a squeeze as she suggested, "You're afraid that we might start wondering what else is out there?"

"Not for me," Makoto said firmly. "I know that you're amazing, Kyoko, and I don't want anything that isn't you."

Kyoko felt herself blushing, and she was also suddenly a bit queasy. "I don't wish to go seeking additional experience, Makoto," she said with a confidence that masked just how touched she was. "I've dated. I've never bothered with a serious relationship before now because I've never found anything worth exploring until you came along. I'm committed to what we have for as long as I'm able to have it."

Makoto swallowed a lump in his throat. "So, I mean... we're both in this for the long haul, then?" he asked. "As in, maybe even the _longest possible_ haul, later on?"

She caught what he was inferring immediately, and her pulse quickened. Her voice sounded like a whisper when she said, "Absolutely." So she cleared her throat and tried again: "Absolutely. Like I said, I'm committed to this. In fact, I'm deeply hoping to... "

Her voice had trailed off, leaving Makoto uncomfortably in suspense. The redness in her cheeks was clear even from the firelight, so he pressed her: "Hoping to _what_?"

Kyoko kept her eyes away from his as she finally stated, "I just meant to agree with you. Strongly. That I'm very much... I'm interested in making it to 'the longest possible haul,' as you put it." She glanced over at him. "With you."

With that, Makoto's expression drained of tension, growing red instead. "Th-thank you," he said quietly, feeling tears in his eyes. "I feel the same way, obviously."

Kyoko blinked a few times to suppress her own tears as she stared at him and smiled quietly.

"So um... I guess that brings up the next topic pretty naturally," Makoto said.

She took a deep breath as she braced herself for whatever was next. "The next topic?" she asked carefully.

"There's another thing I want us to be on the same page about," he said. "When you think of your future, do you picture it involving... children?"

"Ut-!" Kyoko grunted involuntarily. She hugged her knees to her chest in surprise and looked away from him again. "Th-that's-"

"Sorry, I'm sorry!" Makoto said quickly. "It's just, you know-"

"No, I understand," she said, feeling a bit embarrassed by her own embarrassment. Her back straightened as she reached up with her left hand, pushing her braid behind her ear. "We need to know these things about one another, and I... well, I'm kind of honor-bound to say 'yes,' aren't I?"

Makoto understood immediately. "Because of the Kirigiri legacy," he stated simply, sounding displeased.

Kyoko looked back into his eyes. "I've always known it was expected of me," she confirmed. "To continue the lineage."

Makoto frowned slightly. "But is that what you want?"

She smiled a little. "For most of my life, it hasn't really been something I've been looking forward to."

He scratched at his cheek once. Makoto was unsure of where she was going. "So then you _don't_ want to-"

"I'm not finished," she interrupted gently.

"Sorry," Makoto said again.

"As I said, for _most_ of my life, I haven't wanted to do it. The idea of being obligated into motherhood, and that child in turn being forced into a specific career path from birth? It's not only archaic, it's also cruel. I'm lucky to take such pleasure in using my detective skills. If I'd been like my father and rejected the path, I would've never known my grandfather." She removed her arms from around her legs, putting a finger to her chin as she considered, "Maybe I would've known my father better, however?"

"Can you picture having kids _without_ all of those obligations, though?" Makoto asked. "Would you even want to, without that feeling that you _have_ to? What if you didn't have to pass on anything? Would you still feel like it's better to avoid it?"

Kyoko looked straight ahead, staring into the fire for a moment. Slowly, she used her right hand to tug at the glove on her left, removing it while keeping her eyes forward. When finished she turned her head towards him and reached over, grabbing his hand in hers.

She'd touched him many times with her exposed hands by now, but every single touch from those hands thrilled him. He smiled as he looked down at her burn scars and caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. "They're beautiful, you know," he told her, looking up once more.

When his eyes met hers, she was smiling affectionately at him. "The truth is," she began, "You changed a lot of things for me. You helped me see a brighter future. And the kind of hope you gave me... I want to see it continued. I want to build on it and nurture it. I never prioritized that before, but you flipped a switch within me, and I somehow... " She smiled even wider, her cheeks glowing pink as she half-whispered, "Yes. My answer is _yes_. He or she can make their own decisions for their future one day. That's fine. I still feel a need to know what we'd create together. To see it and care for it. And yet, if you said you didn't see that in our future? I wouldn't mind that too much, either. Because the important thing is that I see _us_ in my future, regardless of anything else. So, with that in mind, tell me what _you_ want, too."

Makoto beamed at her. "Being with you definitely got me thinking about it," he told her. "Honestly, I never really put any thought into it before you and I got together. I knew you might feel obligated because of your family, and maybe you'd be worried about bringing someone into this world when it's still kind of messed up, but things are improving all the time, and there's no rush. So I'm not in a hurry to do it... I mean, I want us to enjoy our lives together for a bit first. But I... really, deeply love you. And I want to share _everything_ with you. So I'm trying to say... um... I-I really want to see what kind of person we'd make together, too."

Kyoko swiftly pushed herself off the ground with her right hand, shoving herself over and on top of Makoto. He yelped "Whoa!" as her body landed on top of him and her lips pressed down upon his.

They kissed on the floor in front of the fire with her left hand intertwined with his right. She tilted her head to an angle so as to slip her tongue into his mouth, he wrapped his left around her, holding her back tightly.

When she pulled back, she had to catch her breath for a moment. "That was a very good answer," she said at last.

Makoto couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Full disclosure? I, um, practiced it. Aaaand also a bunch of other reactions depending on what you'd say to me? I had to write, like, four different versions."

Kyoko laughed heartily, nuzzling her nose against his cheek as she did so. "You are _such_ a dork," she murmured into his ear.

"Didn't do much good," he admitted. "I got kinda ruffled and went off-script... " They both chuckled at that.

Kyoko pushed herself up and straddled his waist. "Well, Mr. Headmaster," she said, "Are you up for some more practice?"

Makoto's eyes darted back and forth. "Practice for what, exactly?" he asked, befuddled.

She gave him her most seductive look as she clarified, "The means of procreation, of course. We've got plenty of time to make certain we've perfected it."

Makoto let go of her hand and put both of his hands on her back, pulling her closer. With an uncertain smile, he inquired, "Do I, uh, need more practice?"

She shook her head very slightly. "Not in the least," she assured him. "Still, a dry run couldn't hurt." She looked sideways as she mumbled, "Well, maybe not a _dry_ run."

" _K-Kyoko!_ " Makoto blurted in shock as his face turned deep red.

"You're _so easy_!" she said with delight, giggling as she stared into his eyes. She leaned her head over and began to kiss his neck. After a few, she paused in-between kisses to whisper, "I can't wait to fluster you for _years_ to come."


	13. Umbrella

Kyoko Kirigiri picked up her pace a bit as the raindrops seemed to grow in number and volume. It was a real driving rainstorm now, and it was already a cold day even before the downpour began. It was little wonder, then, that every step that battered her with more rain also served to dampen her mood.

Inwardly, she chided herself for failing to adequately prepare. She knew that there'd be rain this afternoon, but she had felt overconfident that she would finish reviewing the files in the Administration Building well before it started to fall. To make matters worse, she'd opted to use a roundabout route from Administration to her father's office so as to avoid the protests that had enveloped the central plaza. It made logical sense, but in rain this heavy, it was a choice she increasingly regretted.

"Hey, Kiri! Wait up!"

Kyoko paused and turned around to see Makoto Naegi running towards her with a green umbrella held over his head.

As he ran up alongside her on her right, he extended the umbrella over her head with a smile. "You shouldn't be strolling through this without an umbrella. Earth and sand are really falling out here."

Kyoko smiled a little, either because of Makoto's kind gesture or because she was amused by his use of a well-worn idiom. "I'll be all right," she insisted as she attempted to wave the umbrella away.

"But you'll catch a cold, Kirigiri-san!" he countered.

"There's not much point in wasting the protection on someone who's already soaked," she responded. "It's wiser for you to keep yourself dry at this point."

"So… you're sacrificing your health to protect me?" Makoto retorted. He brought a hand to his chest, feigning shock. "That's so noble of you!"

Kyoko was taken aback by the smile that appeared on his face as he said it. Between that and how his eyes had slightly narrowed, it looked like…

 _Is he actually teasing me?_ she thought in disbelief.

"That'll be the day," she fired back with a smirk. At last, she grabbed the umbrella from his hand and held it over herself.

Despite being fully exposed to the elements, Makoto looked supremely satisfied with himself. Kyoko rolled her eyes a little. "Don't get too cocky, Naegi-kun," she warned him. "I'm entirely aware that you only teased me regarding the value my family places on self-preservation so that I would take shelter under your umbrella."

His sincere smile broke into a full-on grin, and he shrugged. "Yeah, okay," he admitted with a chuckle. "You're right, as usual. Either way, at least it worked!"

"I can't help but wonder where you learned such an insidious tactic," Kyoko said with a knowing smile. "It's very unlike you."

"I hang out with some pretty clever people," he said, looking over into her eyes.

When she looked back into his, Kyoko felt herself drawn to the shorter boy. "There's… plenty of room under here, you know," she offered. Kyoko held the umbrella to her right. In the process, she exposed her left shoulder to the rain but managed to shield most of Makoto as well.

Scooting to the side slightly, Kyoko's right shoulder pressed up against Makoto's left. A light pink glow appeared in his cheeks, and he quickly looked away.

"Wh-where are you headed, anyway?" Makoto inquired, avoiding her gaze.

"The old building," she responded. She turned her focus straight ahead in order to keep herself from staring at him. "I need to speak with my father. He has me investigating some rather curious things in the school's files. It seems our illustrious Steering Committee might be up to something."

Makoto frowned a bit, but said nothing at first. He'd centered his view and appeared to be looking straight ahead when he asked, "And what do you and your dad make of all this?" he asked suddenly.

"Uh, make of what exactly?" Kyoko inquired in return. She suddenly felt acutely aware that Makoto wasn't the only one feeling a bit flustered as they rubbed shoulders.

"The 'parade,'" he clarified. Makoto gestured out towards a group of suit-clad students with signs that were visible in the distance to their right. The throng seemed to move like a wave as he headed for the newest building on the campus. "It's growing bigger every day," he observed.

Kyoko expression turned dour. "My father believes things are changing around here," she suggested. "That this is a moment that Hope's Peak and its faculty will always remember. Frankly, I'm inclined to agree with him."

"It might not be such a bad thing," Makoto offered. "Maybe this will push the Steering Committee to give the Reserve Course Students the kind of treatment and attention they deserve."

Kyoko closed her eyes and suppressed the urge to grin. Whenever she heard Makoto speaking so openly and brazenly about his hopes for equality among all of the Hope's Peak students, she felt a swell of admiration. It was one thing for Kyoko to speak in support of the Reserve Course students — she could defend herself against any student who aggressively disagreed, and she was further insulated by her father's position within the school. Makoto, on the other hand, had no such skills or inherent protections, yet he proudly declared his support for unifying the school to anyone who was willing to listen. He did it not because he had anything to gain from doing so, but because he believed it was right.

Even mulling over those facts made her turn and smile at the boy beside her. "You know, we're both still getting a bit wet," she noted. "The umbrella's too small to cover us side-by-side. Mind if squeeze together a bit more?"

Makoto's face jerked to the left to look at her in surprise, and she instantly felt the heat emanating from her own face. "Y-yeah, of course," Makoto replied anxiously.

They were only 15 years away from the old school building by this point. Despite the short distance, however, they still pressed against each other beneath the umbrella. Kyoko moved the umbrella to her left hand so as to wrap her right around his Makoto's back, and Makoto extended his left arm around her back in turn.

They walked silently like that for a while, which made Kyoko feel as though her heart was pounding loud enough to be heard over the rainstorm that surrounded them. Happily, Makoto showed no sign that he noticed it. The boy simply kept his eyes on the building while breathing raggedly due to his nerves. Kyoko heard his breaths and couldn't help but wonder: _Does he feel this nervous whenever he's close to any woman? Or is it just me?_

"Here's your stop!" Makoto said, jolting Kyoko out of her ruminations. They walked up to a side entrance door that led into the old school building, and she lightly hopped onto the single step on front of it, taking the umbrella with her.

Turning back, she saw that Makoto had not followed her onto the small porch. "Wait, you're not coming with me?" she asked.

"Ahh, no," he said shyly, looking down towards the ground. The force of the rain that was now hitting him made the antenna atop his head jiggle. "I'm heading back to the dorm, in fact."

Kyoko stepped back off of the porch and handed the umbrella over to him. "That's… that's the opposite direction from where we started," she stated.

"I know," he acknowledged as he took the umbrella from her hand. He shrugged. "It's no big deal."

Kyoko smiled and shook her head. "You're too kind for your own good, Naegi-kun." She leaned in and pecked him on the cheek, causing Makoto to grunt "AHP!" in shock.

Turning away from him, she quickly explained, "That was merely my thank you for being such a gentleman." With that, Kyoko Kirigiri jogged up and went through the main door, leaving Makoto standing stock still in the rain.

"You… you're welcome… "


	14. Planning Ahead

Naegi and Kirigiri squatted down to focus on the dusty concrete floor. Kyoko instinctively glanced at the hem of her skirt to see whether any of the filth from the ground was brushing it, then promptly returned to ignoring the matter. This was not the time or place to worry about the state of her outfit. It's not like she _expected_ to be imprisoned in an abandoned building today.

No; this time was best spent strategizing.

Kyoko extended her left forefinger and used it to trace out her vision in the dust, placing it just within the beam of sunlight that extended from their cell's tiny window along the back of the small room. "We put Togami-kun here," she told Makoto as she drew a circle in the filth. "That way, he can serve as a distraction."

Makoto chuckled a little. "He won't like that," he said.

"The venue is ideal for it," Kyoko countered. "The entryway serves as a bottleneck. If we have him near the door, then align ourselves so that you and I have a direct line of sight to both his location _and_ said door-"

"I get it," Makoto said, smiling in realization. "He can cut off any unwanted guests and prevent them from getting decent shots of us. And they'll naturally be drawn to look at him anyway, since he's… Togami-kun."

Kyoko smirked and gave a nod in response. Pleased with herself, she raised her right forefinger to her lips in thought. "Perhaps we should put Fukawa-san with him?"

"He _definitely_ won't like _that_ ," Makoto replied with a grin. However, his face fell as a complication occurred to him. "Wait, what if she accidentally sneezes and 'changes' on us?"

Creases appeared in Kyoko's forehead as she mulled the possibility over. "I think we can prevent exposure to any of the obvious triggers," she said. "I'll just tell the florist to keep all arrangements away from their table, then ask the chef to go light on the pepper in Fukawa-san's dishes."

"There's another thing to consider," Makoto warned her. "Komaru will want to be wherever Fukawa-san is."

"Fine," Kyoko said as she drew a few more 'x' marks next to her first circle. "Then the table closest to the entry will have Togami-kun, Fukawa-san, Komaru and Pennyworth-kun.

"What if Togami-kun starts wandering, though?" Makoto asked with concern. "To get away from Fukawa-san, I mean. If he moves off, we lose our shield against the paparazzi."

Kyoko frowned slightly. "Then… hm… "

She started to wipe away three of her dusty 'x' marks when a loud noise came from the metal door. Kyoko quickly stood to regard the armed man in ill-fitting fatigues who stepped through. He was joined by a partner wearing a white tight-shirt and jeans. This one had his spiky hair dyed a bright, unnatural blond.

"It's time," one of them said roughly. Naegi stood up and took his place by Kirigiri's left side.

Kyoko placed her hands on her hips. "No last requests?" she asked indignantly.

"Boss says you don't deserve any," the blond one answered.

Makoto glanced down at Kyoko's left hand, nervously eyeing the engagement ring slipped over her gloved hand. He grabbed her hand in his and swallowed.

Even as she gripped Makoto's hand with her left, Kyoko ran her right hand through her hair, flipping it defiantly. "Your 'boss' is unfathomably rude," she informed the men.

The one in fatigues gave her a toothy grin. "I'll pass along your complaints," he snarled.

* * *

Naegi and Kirigiri were marched down a dark corridor with a rifle pointed at each of their backs. They kept their hands locked together while they walked.

As they approached the end of the tunnel that exited into blinding sunlight, Kyoko cleared her throat. "Just for the record… " she began.

"I know what you're going to say," Makoto interrupted her.

Nevertheless, she continued: "You shouldn't have come after me."

Makoto had beads of sweat forming on his forehead, but he managed to smile weakly. "I know."

"I'm perfectly capable of handling myself," she went on.

"I _know_ ," Makoto repeated.

"You could've at _least_ wait for an official rescue operation to be mounted instead of running off half-cocked," she finished with exasperation.

Makoto looked over at his fiance with an expression containing both affection and regret. "Did you really think there was any way that I _wasn't_ going to come racing after you?" he asked.

Kyoko smiled sadly at him. "No, I suppose I didn't," she acknowledged. She squeezed his hand a little tighter in hers as they walked out and into the light.

Once her eyes adjusted to the glare of the sun, Kyoko saw that the pair had been taken into a small, dirty parking lot with a makeshift barricade of shipping crates blocking access to or any view of the adjacent road. The other three sides of the lot were blocked in by buildings, including a large skyscraper to the far right and the mid-sized building they'd just emerged from on the left-hand side. A shorter two-story structure made up the back wall that faced the barricade. Three-quarters of the lot was surrounded by men spaced a few feet apart from one another, adding up to maybe 20 or 30 individuals by her initial estimation. More than half were openly wielding firearms.

"As I thought," Kyoko mused aloud. "We're only 10 kilometers or so from the school."

"Next time you go outside the campus walls to 'check the perimeter,'" Makoto advised, "Could you maybe take more than one bodyguard with you?"

Kyoko eyed him affectionately. "I'll consider it, Headmaster," she teased lightly.

"Shut up and move," the man in fatigues ordered them.

The two men at their backs led them over to a pair of metal poles, each mounted in a concrete-filled tire. They resembled the kind of thing one would attach a tetherball to, but their captors attached Naegi and Kirigiri to the poles instead by pulling them apart, then cuffing their hands behind their backs and around the poles. The wall of the building directly behind them was the only area of the arena _not_ lined with members of the controlling gang. Kyoko was not at all surprised to learn that this was because she and Makoto were to be shot by weapons facing that direction, firing-squad-style.

A large, muscular man wearing dark green pants and no shirt stepped out from the crowd and slowly strolled up in front of the two, standing about five meters away from them. He was holding a Kalashnikov rifle in both hands, but his most notable feature was that his face was painted half-white and half-black. Kyoko immediately pegged him as the aforementioned "boss" of this group.

He let his rifle hang down on one side as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. "Sorry," he said insincerely to his captives. "Our group isn't as well-funded as Enoshima-sensei was. We're gonna have to film this thing guerilla-style, but don't you worry: Everybody will still get to watch you die."

Makoto swallowed hard. Kyoko just stared blankly at the group's leader, clearly bored by his little speech. "I've been told that you don't believe in last requests," Kyoko said flatly. "Am I at least allowed some last words?"

The leader's grin revealed that he'd filed some of his teeth down to ragged, painful-looking points. "Oh? Got something to say, sweetie?" he hissed.

Kyoko let her eyes drift around the parking lot, looking each member of the group in the eyes for a fleeting moment as she announced, "I just wanted you to know that I understand. I understand that you abducted two people who work at a school because you long for _discipline_. And I want to assure _all_ of you that you will get what you're after very, _very_ soon." _  
_

The assembled group of thugs chuckled awkwardly at her words. A few of them shifted their stances uncomfortably. The leader just shook his head in disbelief. "You ain't the one in charge here, little girl," he growled with a twisted half-smile. "You got _nothing_ on us."

Kyoko smiled at him confidently and stared him in the eyes, saying nothing. Gradually, his own smile faded into an irritated scowl.

"Whatever," he grumbled. The leader turned his back on the two and held the phone in his outstretched arms, beginning to record a "selfie" video with his two captives in the background. "A despairing day to you," he began in a rasp. "We are the Sons of Enoshima, and today we present you with a long-overdue treat: The execution of the Ultimate Hope. Along with him, we-"

Kyoko couldn't bring herself to pay attention to the rest. He continued droning on, but she turned her attention to Makoto instead. "You know how I wanted to do a Fall wedding because of the traditionally Autumnal wedding colors?" she began innocently.

Makoto was sweating heavily from his face now, but he tried to give her as much attention as he could muster while still eyeing the leader at the same time. "Y-yeah," he stammered. "Um, especially the purples."

Kyoko gave him a small smile. "Naturally. Unfortunately, it seems that both lilacs and violets will be out of season in the Fall. The florist suggested we can surround the centerpieces with New England Aster, which I'm in favor of. But for the central focus… I confess that I'm struggling to make a decision. Do you have any thoughts?"

"I will count down from five," the leader said to his phone's camera with a sickening smile. "I want you all to watch the last five seconds before I rip Hope out of this world. And when I'm finished… it's _punishment tiiiiiiiime!_ " he screamed. Cheers erupted from the men around him, some of whom fired their guns blindly into the air.

"Uhh… Kyoko?" Makoto half-whispered.

"Don't worry about him," Kyoko said dismissively. "Focus on the task at hand."

The blond man in the t-shirt and jeans ran up to his boss and took the phone from his hand, taking over filming duties as the leader turned around and aimed his rifle at Makoto and Kyoko.

Makoto closed his eyes, attempting to concentrate on his fiancee's question.

" _Five_!" the leader yelled.

"What about an orchid?" Makoto suggested. "I know they're not easy to find-"

" _Four_!" the leader continued.

"No, that's perfect!" Kyoko said happily.

" _Thr-_ "

The leader suddenly lurched forward in pain, cutting off his own count. Some confused chatter began to rise among the crowd of his followers.

Kyoko eyed this sight with a tight, satisfied smile, then returned her attention to Makoto. "The purple ones are _gorgeous_ ," she noted with quiet enthusiasm. "And we only need a small number of them."

Makoto wasn't paying attention to the conversation anymore. A soft _whup-whup-whup_ noise began to escalate in volume, filling the air around the parking lot. About half of the gang looked skyward, trying to identify the source of the noise, while others were looking at their boss-

-as he threw his head backwards, exposing the pair of scissors embedded in his jugular.

The blond thug dropped the cell phone and cried out, "What the _unholy fuck?!_ "

The painted face of the leader gurgled a bit before his body fell backwards, hitting the ground with the sound of wet meat striking a slab.

The rhythmic thumping in the air grew progressively louder.

"Ehehehehehehehehe!" cackled a feminine voice above them. Makoto watched as the body of his friend Fukawa somersaulted over him, evidently having launched herself from the roof behind them. She hit the ground in a crouch, then rose to reveal the pairs of genoscissors in her hands and her long, dangling tongue.

"Shit NO!" yelled one of the thugs.

"Thank God," Makoto mumbled, relieved.

The gang was still out of sorts, with some of them pointing their guns towards the sky and stumbling around as they searched for the source of the loud thumping while others were focused on the serial killer before them. The blond man backed away from the scissors-wielding lunatic before him and pulled out his pistol, pointing it at the woman. "Everybody aim at that psycho bitch!" he ordered the others.

Before the group could comply, a black helicopter flew over the adjoining mid-sized building. The group of men looked up in awe and horror.

Byakuya Togami's authoritative voice called out over a megaphone. "This helicopter is armed with a minigun and an M197 cannon. Your entire force is currently within our sights. Drop your weapons and get your on your knees. I give you my word as a Togami that no one who complies will be harmed. I also give my word that anyone who disobeys _will_ be destroyed."

And with that, the entire gang obeyed. The sound of guns clattered to the pavement echoed through the lot.

" _Ooohhh_ , I love it when he's bossy, hehehe!" Genocider cooed.

The helicopter flew lower, and ropes unfurled from it so as to drop some troops into the makeshift arena. As the security forces came in, Makoto Naegi let out a lengthy sigh.

"I'll have to talk to them about their response time," Kyoko said to no one in particular, frowning. "They should've been here four seconds sooner. Sloppy."

One of the security troops came over to the bound couple and stepped behind them. He worked quickly slice through their bonds with his combat knife. "Sorry for the delay," the man in black offered.

Kyoko's face turned stern as she whirled around to face the soldier, but Makoto cut her off. "No worries!" he told the security officer happily. "The only thing that matters is that you made it in time. We _both_ really appreciate it. We'll be sure to thank everyone on the team."

He shot a warm smile over at Kyoko, who reluctantly added, "I… also thank you." The soldier saluted her and then scurried off.

* * *

Moments later, the helicopter had landed in the center of the lot. Most of the troops were securing the so-called Sons of Enoshima. Byakuya Togami climbed out of the helicopter and headed for Naegi and Kirigiri, accompanied by one of the soldiers.

"Oh Master _Sweet Cheeeeeeks,_ " a sing-song voice called out. Togami turned to right to see Genocider holding the now-severed head of the gang leader aloft. "Want some _head_? Hehehehehehe!" she cackled, clearly entertaining herself.

Byakuya looked utterly disgusted. Turning to the soldier beside him, he ordered "Get someone to gas her before I vomit." The man with him just nodded and ran off.

"Awww, come _on_!" Genocider cried out plaintively. She held the severed head in her outstretched arm and declared, "Lookit lookit, I'm Hamlet! That's the kind of classy shit you dig, right?!"

Byakuya ignored her as he strode over to Naegi and Kirgiri. "Are you both well?" he asked.

"Well enough," Kyoko responded curtly.

"Isn't Fukawa-san going to freak when she learns she killed somebody?" Makoto asked with concern.

"She'll be fine once she knows I ordered her to do so," Byakuya remarked coolly.

Kyoko folded her arms. "You were slow," she said simply.

Makoto rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You're too harsh," he told her with a soft laugh, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No, she's entirely correct," Byakuya fired back. "I've already made the team aware that their performance today was _unacceptable_."

Kyoko was looking Makoto in the eyes and only half-listening. "I suppose… _unacceptable_ might be a bit much," she accepted as the corners of her mouth curled upwards.

Byakuya shook his head. "You're growing soft, Kirigiri," he said — thought his tone was far less harsh than his words. "Get yourselves checked out by medical, won't you?" He turned on his heel and walked off without another word.

Once more alone with Kyoko, Makoto grinned at her. "Thanks for keeping me grounded during all of that," he said sincerely.

Her tiny, subtle smile was still there when she told him, "It wasn't just a distraction, you know. We really _do_ need to make these decisions."

"I know," he said happily. "Um, I was thinking about our cake, actually, and… do you like Red Velvet?"

"More than I should," she said, her smile growing a little.

"Awesome!" he said excitedly. His eyes glinted with playful intent when he added, "Next question, then: Are you going to admit it?"

"Admit _what_?" Kyoko countered with faux ignorance.

"That my special engagement gift was a great idea, of course," he said, grinning. He put his hands around Kyoko's hips, sliding them just above the back of her skirt.

She rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned her head down slightly to look him in the eyes. "I never thought having an emergency transponder in my engagement ring was _bad_ , you understand," she said. "Clever, certainly. Unconventional? Definitely."

He giggled a little. "Come on, you thought it was weird," he teased her as his face leaned closer to hers.

"And smart," she said softly, leaning her nose against his.

"And _weird_ ," he pressed, staring deep into her eyes.

Unable to help it any longer, Kyoko Kirigiri's mouth broke into a grin. "Yes," she acknowledged. "It was very weird."

With that admission, she finally leaned in and pressed her mouth against his. Makoto gently pulled her closer to him as he took the kiss in. He kissed her softly at first, but after what they had just been through, that wasn't what she wanted. Kyoko moved her hands around his upper back, balled them into fists, and pulled him hard against him, causing him to grunt low in his throat. His arms wrapped around her tightly in response and they pressed together so hard that she thought they might begin to grind into one another.

" _Fucking hell_!" shouted the dyed-blond thug. From six meters away and on his knees with his hands cuffed behind his back, he made a gagging sound of disgust as he watched Naegi and Kirigiri. "Get a _fucking room,_ you nasty cunts!" he added.

Without stopping the kiss or even opening her eyes, Kyoko pulled her left arm away from Makoto and quietly raised her middle finger in the direction of the voice.


	15. Unfair Choice

Kyoko Kirigiri had thrown suspicion onto Naegi successfully. Yet when she looked at him, she could see in his eyes that he's figured out the loophole in what she'd said.

Yet despite that... he wasn't talking.

Her brow furrowed a bit. She knew she was gambling with her argument, so why wasn't he arguing back?

Makoto locked eyes with her and nodded once. She felt a jolt in her stomach. _What the hell is he doing? Speak up already!_

Then, another curveball hit: Monokuma called time. They had to vote _immediately_ , further confirming the mastermind's increasing desperation.

When the voting screen rose up in front of them, Kyoko looked at the screen before her and felt a sickening knot wound tightly within her stomach. She saw there the faces of the surviving class members, plus the "X"-ed out faces of so many lost.

 _I did this for **them** ,_ she thought _. This is what I_ _wanted. I have to hope I threw enough suspicion onto Naegi-kun to..._

 _...to..._

She knew in that moment that didn't really want this. She didn't want anyone else to die. Not here. Not like this.

And especially not _him_.

Yet she had to live. She knew it was up to her to solve the mystery of this school and end this damnable game.

 _What choice did I have? Naegi-kun was the only other viable suspect._

Monokuma — or rather, his puppeteer — was cheating now, but there was no way she could win the trial by pointing that out.

 _No one else has as strong a chance at getting the rest of the group out of here as I do. I have to play the best odds for keeping myself alive.  
_

 _Naegi figured out the same angles I did, and he's playing the same odds... for me._

 _Oh god. He's willing to sacrifice himself to keep me around to end this game._

It seemed to be the only logical explanation for what he was doing.

 _He shouldn't be forced to die for this. The mastermind **will** pay for this_.

But there was no third option. No one else was a viable pick.

 _The time of death forced me into this... it had to be him or me_.

She glanced over at Naegi. He was sweating and clutching his podium, staring down at his monitor... unmoving.

 _Did he vote already? Is he… is he not going to vote?_

She looked down at her own screen again. She moved her hand to vote for Naegi - but she hesitated.

 _There's no other choice… right?_

Her hand moved to the left.

And voted for herself.


	16. Game Night

"The killer is... you!" Makoto Naegi shouted, pointing his finger accusingly.

" _What_?!" Aoi Asahina yelped. "No way!"

"Then prove it," Makoto responded, smirking playfully. "I accuse Miss Scarlett of committing the murder in the Study using the Rope!" He moved Hina's red game piece and the small plastic rope into the 'Study' square with his own green piece on the board.

Naegi, Asahina, Kirigiri and Fukawa were seated around a circular wooden table within Hina's personal quarters at the new Hope's Peak Academy. Hina wanted to set up Friday nights as a recurring "game night" for the surviving members of the 78th class when they were on or near the campus.

Byakuya Togami expressed total disinterest in the such "frivolities" from the start, and on this particular Friday, Yasuhiro Hagakure was busy spending time with his mother. That left the current set of four. Aoi Asahina sat on one side of the table, with Kyoko Kirigiri on the opposite end. To Kyoko's left was Makoto Naegi, and on Hina's left sat Toko Fukawa.

One of these four was far more skeptical about this week's choice of game than the rest.

Kyoko Kirigiri looked at Makoto with a side-eyed glance. "Upon what do you base your accusation, precisely?"

"Uhhh," Makoto groaned uneasily. "Well, I started near the Study." He pointed at plastic rope on the game board. "And the rope piece stood out as looking kinda cute?"

She gave him a withering gaze and pursed her lips a bit, clearly unimpressed with his logic. "Is there somewhere we can obtain information on the state of the body?" Kyoko asked.

"That's not part of the game," Toko told her glumly.

Kyoko looked irritated. With mounting disbelief, she ran down the situation: "So for unknown reasons, we _somehow_ have no way of knowing whether Mr. Boddy was killed via blunt force trauma, strangulation, gunshot wounds-"

"Right," Makoto told her with a nod.

"And what about these cards?" she demanded, holding up the row of cards that she had fanned out in her gloved hand.

Hina's face brightened. "It's time to use those now!" she informed Kyoko excitedly.

Upon hearing that, Kyoko looked mildly intrigued. "Okay... what is the implication of a given card?" she asked.

Hina looked at Makoto for an explanation of the question. She shrugged at her, then told Kyoko, "They're just random."

Kyoko rolled her eyes before providing further explanation of her question: "If I have a card for a given room, does that mean I've investigated that room for evidence? And if so, how do I investigate additional rooms? Do I just-"

"No no, nothing like that," Hina told her. "When someone shows that they have the card for a given particular room, object, or person, you can prove that they _aren't_ the items in the envelope for Mr. Boddy's murder."

"And how am I proving this?" she asked. "Did I investigate the item or location for evidence and come up dry?"

"I... well, it's more like a process of elimination," Hina offered.

A few seconds passed as Kyoko's eyelids slowly drooped to a half-open position. "What," she spat.

"Think about it, Kiri," Makoto said good-naturedly. "There's only one card of each type. If you have the card for a specific thing that the accuser calls out, you can therefore prove to the accuser that the items in the envelope _can't_ be exactly the ones he mentioned because _you_ have one or more of those unique cards. Therefore, they're not in the envelope!"

Kyoko gritted her teeth, letting a soft groan of anguish slip out as she stared at the cards she clutched. "Is a 'Cluedo' something other than a _clue_?!" she asked aloud to no one in particular.

"Ah... no," Naegi told her, sounding semi-apologetic. "I'm pretty sure it means 'Clue.'"

"In North America," Toko explained, "The game is actually called 'Clue.'"

"I see," Kirigiri said flatly. "In that case, they named it poorly. The creators should've called it 'Guessdo' or 'Wild Accusation-do.'"

"Should I have brought some potato chips?" Asahina teased. "Because Kirigiri-san is liking it _salty_ tonight."

Toko snickered a bit, though she attempted to cover it up with a cough. Makoto did his best to hide his face behind his set of cards as he smiled. The source of his smile was Kyoko's attitude rather than Hina's wisecrak, however; his girlfriend's frustration was awfully endearing.

"Wasn't this made in America?" Hina asked the group. "So they would've called it 'Guess.'"

Toko shook her head. "It's originally from England. And it was designed by one person."

A small sigh escaped from Kyoko. "Very well," she accepted. "The _creator_ named it poorly. ... 'Unfounded Suspicion-do.'"

"I think we're drifting off-topic here," Makoto said, chuckling. "It's up to the rest of you all to prove to me that Miss Scarlett didn't do what I said. But remember: If you have a card to show me, don't let anybody else see it."

" _Fine_ ," Kyoko said. She leaned towards her boyfriend and carefully withdrew a card, showing him that it said 'Study.'

"I see," Makoto told her.

"I have one," Toko told him. She leaned over the table to hold the card for 'Miss Scarlett' up to Makoto's face.

Hina shrugged. "Nothing here," she told Naegi.

"Huh," Kyoko said softly. She smirked with confidence. "So two elements of his three-part guess were wrong, and I only know _one_ of the incorrect elements for certain. The other one... I have to discover that for myself."

"I'm surprised he even got _one_ part," Toko said bitterly. "It's the first try. You must be _cheating_."

"I'm not!" Makoto fired back quickly. He shrugged. "It's gotta be the luck, heh."

Makoto then turned and placed his right hand on Kyoko's shoulder, asking her, "Are you getting into it, then?"

"Somewhat," she admitted begrudgingly. "It's not a genuine 'Mystery Game,' regardless of what the box claims. However, I... _suppose_ I respect the logical reasoning that one can apply to it."

"That's the spirit," he said brightly. He moved all of his cards to his left hand as he rubbed her shoulder gently with his right hand. "It doesn't have to be serious detective work — we can just have a good time."

"Sure," Kyoko said, smiling at last. "I believe I can appreciate that." She leaned over and kissed Makoto on his cheek, causing him to blush shyly and drop his right hand to the tabletop. "Thanks for your understanding and support," she finished sweetly.

"Thanks for the _delays_ ," Toko countered. "Quit holding up the show, Kirigiri. Show Hope Boy a card or something."

"And no collusion allowed!" Hina warned the two of them as she watched Kyoko place her left hand atop Makoto's right. She pointed a finger accusingly at their hands as she went on, "It's not fair for you guys to use your couple-y skills to Sherlock-and-Watson this game like you do with real mysteries! This is _serious_!"

Makoto half-smiled. "It's _more_ serious than real murders and mysteries?" he ventured with his amusement in his voice.

"Well, it's... n-no!" Hina acquiesced in a strangely adamant tone. "I just mean this game is about everyone being out for _themselves_!"

Kyoko's brow was furrowed in concentration with her eyes locked to the game board. "Very well," she said absently. "But first... can someone explain why we don't consider any of the items shown on the board?"

"Do _what_ now?" Hina inquired.

Kyoko pointed at the square for the 'Library,' noting the illustration that wrapped around its edges. "For example: In this room, I see plenty of bookends and even a lamp that could be used to bludgeon a man to death here," she noted. "Why aren't these _all_ potential murder weapons?"

"Hoooooo boy," Makoto responded, chuckling again.


	17. Baseball

"Makoto?" Kyoko Kirigiri called out. The moonlight was only providing the faintest outline of a human silhouette that stood a few meters ahead of her. She lifted the small LED flashlight she was carrying to illuminate Makoto, who stood smiling in front of a chain-link fence.

"Sure is," Makoto Naegi answered her with evident glee.

"You had a chain-link fence installed?" she asked him, sounding a little irritated. "In the middle of an empty field?"

"Better," he answered happily. Kyoko tracked him with her flashlight as he took two steps to his own left to reach what appeared to be a junction box. There, he bent down and she heard a _ka-thunk._

Kyoko was momentarily blinded as a set of floodlights on tall poles illuminated the surrounding area. As her eyes adjusted, she saw that the fence Makoto was standing beside was tall, and it hugged two sides of a large square of light brown, sandy-looking dirt. In the center of the dirt there was a small mound. That would've been enough to tell her what she was looking at all by itself, but the pitching machine located there sealed the deal.

"A baseball diamond," she stated flatly. "You had the groundskeeping team make a baseball diamond."

"Yes!" Makoto said excitedly. "I mean, the old Hope's Peak had one before the tragedy and years of neglect wiped it away. So I thought, as long as we're fixing all of the old Hope's Peak's problems and making a better vision of the school, why don't we do _this_ better, too?"

Kyoko clicked off her flashlight and inserted it into her coat pocket. "And how much did the floodlights cost us?" she asked, a harsher edge creeping into her voice.

" _Gah_ — n-nevermind that!" Makoto muttered hastily. He turned and gestured to home plate on the other side of the fence behind him. "Wanna step up to the plate and have a swing?"

She approached the fence at an angle that kept her a couple meters away from Makoto. Upon reaching it, she regarded the plate and the dusty old bat laying beside it for a few seconds, then folded her arms and lifted her attention to the pitching machine upon the mound. "Please tell me," she said coolly, "That you didn't purchase the machine as well."

"Oh, _come on_ ," Makoto pleaded. He stepped closer to her and opened his arms wide as he turned to face the infield. "You don't think that all of this is beautiful?!" he asked.

"It's a geometric patch of dirt," Kyoko responded in a monotone. "The grass is cut nicely, at least."

He looked at her with disbelief. "Have you ever played baseball?" he asked.

"No," she replied quickly. "Have you?"

" _Pffft_ ," Makoto scoffed. "Of course I have," he said simply. "I love playing baseball!"

Kyoko narrowed her eyes and looked at him with skepticism. " _Really_ ," she said accusingly.

Instantly, Makoto fell onto the defensive. "Well... okay, I love _watching_ people play baseball. I mean... it _is_ the most popular sport in the nation."

Kyoko smirked with satisfaction. At least _that_ sounded more like the man she knew. "Is this part of your established affection for anything that's popular?" she inquired, gently teasing him.

Makoto shook his head frantically, waving his arms in the air as he insisted, "Forget all that! The point is that the New Hope's Peak should have a good facility for athletic activities, and this is one of the most common athletic needs for _any_ Japanese school."

Her eyes drifted upwards as she considered his point for a moment. "I suppose... that does make sense," she accepted.

Makoto moved away from her and stepped away from the backstop area, walking towards a small gap in the fence. After stepping through, he strode over to the plate and picked up a wooden bat that was laying next to it. "I suppose the only part I like _playing_ is the batting practice," he admitted. "Even when you blow it, it just... it feels good to try." He half-smiled and shrugged before adding, "Feels _less_ good in a real game, though."

Kyoko smiled at him. "You're such a little boy sometimes," she said affectionately. "Okay — tell me about the therapeutic benefits of swinging a stick at a piece of horsehide."

"Come in here, and I'll show you," he fired back, grinning at her.

She acquiesced by heading through the gap in the fence. While she approached, Makoto poked one hand into his jacket pocket to confirm that he was still holding the remote control for the pitching machine.

Kyoko took the bat from his free hand and grabbed it tightly on the grip, then stepped up to face the plate. She lifted the bat so that both hands were on its grip and it was pointed straight up towards the sky, attempting to imitate what she'd seen of the game before.

Makoto stepped away for a moment, which only left her unprepared when she felt saw his arms coming around her from behind and felt his body press tightly up against her back. He put his hands on the bat's grip as well, working to guide her while simultaneously embracing her.

Kyoko felt herself blushing. "Ah," she gasped quietly.

Makoto moved his right hand on top of her own as he leaned his head around and whispered in her right ear. "Come on now, you're wringing the life out of it. Hold on firmly but gently, like a solid handshake."

Kyoko tilted her head to the side and whispered back. "Friendly or business?" she asked, half-joking.

"Business," he told her quietly. They shared a giggle. "Oh, and keep your hands together," he advised.

"Right, so I'm in the middle."

"Yeah, sorry."

They both shifted their hands around so that she had her hands in the center of the grip, with one of his on either side.

"Bend your knees a little," Makoto continued. "But only juuuust a bit."

Kyoko did so, lowering her stance. As she did so, Makoto moved to match, subsequently pressing his groin up against her rear. Kyoko felt him pressing into her and held her breath for a moment.

"S-so," Makoto continued nervously. "When you swing, you need to turn your lower body before your upper."

"Hm?" Kyoko hummed. She finally exhaled.

"Your knees and waist," he explained softly. He removed his right hand from the bat, then placed it onto her right hip. "Swing when the ball is approaching so that you turn your hips first, then your hands follow."

"I see," she said. Kyoko twisted her waist, pushing her butt back into his groin as she turned her body before lightly swinging the bat forward.

Afterwards, Makoto stammered, ""Th-that's... not really hard enough."

Kyoko smiled and turned back to see his face, raising an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure?" she teased.

Makoto swallowed hard. Kyoko turned her attention back to the pitching machine. "I'm... beginning to see the appeal," she said quietly. "Do you want to stop practicing and try this for real?"

She heard him inhale sharply. "What-"

"The swinging," she clarified quickly.

"R-right," Makoto said, chuckling to himself. He withdrew his right hand yet again so as to push the button on the remote in his pocket.

His hand returned to holding her waist as the two of them waited.

By now Makoto had his groin pushed up against her butt, his chest against her back, one arm reaching around her, and the other on her waist. Kyoko had to bite her lower lip to fight a smile, which distracted her when the first ball shot from the machine and flew in front of them both.

As it hit the chain-link fence that served as their backstop, she glanced back at the first baseball and just said, "Oh."

"Just focus on where it's coming from," Makoto suggested.

Kyoko turned and fixed her eyes on the machine. As the next ball flew out, she felt Makoto pushing at the bat. She followed his urging and turned her hips, then hands as she stepped forward and swung, barely missing.

"Ut!" Kyoko grunted.

"Close," Makoto said gently.

Now she was hell-bent on succeeding. Kyoko bent her knees and returned to her batting stance, smiling tightly when she felt Makoto's body pushing up against her.

"You know," Makoto whispered, "As you focus your attention on hitting a small object, it's easy to forget about your other worries."

A ball shot out. They swung together. The ball hit the top edge of the bat this time with a _krik_ , bouncing high and over the backstop.

"Good, really good," Makoto said. "That's about how most of _my_ hits go," he added with a small laugh.

"We can do better," Kyoko said firmly. She smiled. "We're _always_ better when we're together."

A ball shot out. They swung together. It hit the inside part of the bat mid-swing, generating a _cluk_ sound and bounding into the dirt in front of them.

"When you're up here, there's only one job," he breathed into her ear. "Just like you said earlier: Hit the horsehide with a stick."

She grinned to herself, preparing for another swing.

"There's no budget to worry about, no construction to oversee, no massive murder games to haunt you," he continued. "The bat has to meet the ball. It's the only thing that matters. Everything else just... fades away."

A ball shot out. They swung together. It hit towards the center of the wide end of the bat, letting out a satisfying _krrack._ The ball flew forward and a little high, hitting the dirt between the first and second bases.

"Yes!" Makoto said enthusiastically. "That's it!"

Kyoko took a deep breath and looked at the spot where the ball hit the dirt with satisfaction. "Of course, that would've been easily caught by the first baseman," she observed with a shrug. "Still... not bad for my first few swings."

Makoto stepped back and looked at her quizzically. "You've never played baseball, but you know the base positions?" he asked.

"There's a difference between not playing it and not knowing how it works," she said lightly. "But like I said before: I _do_ see the appeal now."

He shut off the pitching machine with his remote while he said, "I'm glad to hear it. And I know this was kind of random, but I... I appreciate you doing this with me. I wanted to share this with you."

Makoto turned and looked over at the pitching machine with sad smile. "When I was a kid, it was my dad up there," he said wistfully. "He never let me give up whenever I thought things were tough. And even on the nights when I knew what I was doing wrong — that my swing was too late, or not hard enough, or too low — it still took me a lot longer to hit the ball than you took on your first time out."

Kyoko put a hand on his shoulder. "You were a _boy_ ," she reminded him. "And I have some combat training on hitting moving targets, you know."

"I know," Makoto said. "I wasn't trying to sound negative. Only trying to let you know how impressive you are."

The two of them smiled and turned to face one another. Kyoko put her other hand onto Makoto's other shoulder. "I appreciate that," she told him. "But I also want you to know that you were wrong."

"Oh?" he said.

"I didn't let go of everything else on my mind while we did this," Kyoko told him. "I never thought that the ball was the only thing that mattered. Because I never stopped feeling something else right behind me — something that always matters much more to me, regardless of any other point of focus."

Makoto blushed and looked away, but he couldn't hide the giant grin on his face. "And... the other thing?" he asked.

She learned closer and tilted her head a little, her single braid swinging down under her chin as she quietly whispered into his ear: "Nothing about you has _ever_ been 'not hard enough.'"

Makoto jerked back and winced, then broke into a nervous laugh. "That... that was _awful_ ," he warned in a low voice. He smiled shyly yet still couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with her.

Kyoko covered her mouth with one hand, trying to keep herself from laughing with him. "It's hard for me to resist testing the boundaries of your comfort," she admitted. "You're honestly _adorable_ when you're embarrassed."

He raised his eyes to meet her, his face still beet red. "Thanks, I suppose? Are you... ready to head back?"

She lowered her hand from her mouth and nodded slowly. "So long as we both head to the same place," she offered flirtatiously.

He smiled affectionately back and reached over to take her hand in his. "You know me," he said. "I'd follow you anywhere."

* * *

 **X-Files fans will know that this is basically a Danganronpa spin on a pretty famous scene from "The Unnatural" in season 6. All apologies for knocking it off, but I couldn't resist.**


	18. Add Salt to Haterade

As soon as Makoto Naegi woke up that morning in his quarters on the Hope's Peak campus, he wondered what people were saying.

Just the day before, they went public and announced that the New Hope's Peak Academy would open its doors in the coming spring. Sure, various members of the Future Foundation had been working on the property for months now, but this was the first time anyone had spoken up about the reason for their presence and ongoing efforts.

They had called a press conference at the Tokyo Airport. It was the most secure location in the city, but attendance was still pretty low — plenty of reporters were hesitant to risk travel in the post-Tragedy world, opting instead to simply share information, videos, and audio obtained by an intrepid few. There were still verification measures in place, but unique individual coverage had become a lot less important.

In effect, that meant that rather than the news hitting the entire globe with shared immediacy on the same afternoon as the press conference, it had spread in a gradual, almost-viral fashion since shortly after the conference ended. He read shocked, confused, and even elated reactions on the Internet well into the night, but now that it was a fresh new day, he was hoping that more in-depth opinions had grown from the seeds of those knee-jerk reactions.

Heck, maybe people were even talking about it on TV.

With that on his mind, he crept out of bed and tried to quietly head for the kitchen so as not to wake Kyoko Kirigiri, who was still dozing beside him when he first awoke.

Makoto poured a glass of water in the kitchen and headed over to the couch wearing just his boxers and an undershirt. Flipping on the TV via its remote, he headed for a local Japanese channel and settled down on the far left side of the couch.

As he sat down, he placed the remote on the cushion to his right and sat his water on the end table to the left. On the screen, he saw a mass of protestors outside of the recently constructed perimeter wall of the campus. His expression immediately grew concerned.

"What the-?!" he muttered involuntarily. He cut himself off so he could better hear the words of the angry-looking bearded man who was standing in front of a microphone held by a nervous TV reporter.

"- _faculty made up of the very people who caused this nightmare_!"

The nervous-looking reporter moved the microphone to her own mouth and asked, " _Are you really suggesting that the survivors of Junko Enoshima's killing game were actually responsible for the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History_?"

She barely had time to move the microphone back before the man began his rapid-fire answer: " _I am flat-out_ telling you _that these so-called 'survivors' of the 78th class put on the whole goddamned show. They used their talents to bring the world to its knees, sent out their upperclassmen to wreak havoc, and then broadcasted a spectacular work of fiction to make themselves look like friggin' victims of their own sickening plan._ "

Makoto scowled at the TV. At first, he was surprised that the protesters weren't there to protest reopening the site of so much tragedy. Then he was merely disgusted by their actual inspiration.

Even though the female reporter was beginning to bravely question the bearded man's assertions, Makoto didn't want to stick around and hear the next response. He snatched up the remote and quickly changed the channel.

He flipped past a children's anime and then past a game show before landing on some kind of talk show or debate program. This one was currently focused on a panel of three seated around a long, curved counter as they debated. The one in the center was a man; the two on the outside were both female.

The middle-aged man at the center was wearing a suit, tie, and a pair of rounded glasses. He was just finishing his sentence: "- _surprised that he'd want to return there, much less re-open the place_."

The young woman on the far right chuckled ruefully. " _Come on, now_ ," she said bitterly. She pushed back her flowing black hair off of her shoulders and added, " _Of_ course _he'd do this_."

" _What do you mean_?" asked the blonde Caucasian woman on the left. She was a bit older than the dark-haired female, but not by much. Her light hair was cut short, and her face scrunched as she asked her question.

" _Just that it's perfectly in keeping with his character,_ " the woman on the right answered, smirking. _"Makoto Naegi has consistently acted like he's the untouchable idol of the world - someone who can do no wrong. Him re-opening Hope's Peak is the culmination of his sense of superiority._ " _  
_

The blonde woman was shaking her head vigorously. She fired back, " _How can you say that?! If anything, Naegi-kun appears to struggle with a lot of insecurity and doubt._ "

" _He sure didn't act that way when he was dominating those 'class trials,'_ " the dark-haired woman scoffed. " _Even when Kirigiri-san or Togami-kun were providing most of the legwork, he was still the one taking charge and steamrolling through everybody else."_ The lady folded her arms and went on, _"The people around Naegi are bit players to him, and he sees himself as the star of the show. And really, why shouldn't he feel that way? After all, he is mysteriously blessed by some unknown force. Whether it's his 'luck' or whatever is up for debate, but he's managed to get through this entire Tragedy without enduring any serious losses. Most of us have lost family, friends, and maybe even everything we have. Yet Naegi is comfortably protected by his celebrity status, his sister is safe, the woman he loves is alive, and his entire worldview is never seriously questioned by either himself or anyone else in his circle of influence._ "

"But my friends? Parents... " Makoto mumbled softly, speaking to no one. He felt embarrassed at the realization that he was talking to a TV. He blinked a few times rapidly as he tried to fight the stinging sensation at the edge of his eyes.

He jumped slightly when he felt a hand gently grip his his right shoulder. He twisted around to see Kyoko Kirigiri standing behind him. She was standing behind the couch in her pajama pants and a purple tank top, looking a bit bleary-eyed. She offered him a sympathetic smile. He tried to smiled back, but could only do so weakly as he continued to listen to the TV.

" _Now he gets to be in charge of the reborn Hope's Peak, where he can just erase all the deaths that happened there and build a new legacy in his own name. He not only doesn't care about those deaths, he_ also _believes he can do what many qualified educators already failed to do. Naegi is, in short, a Toxic Alpha Male in sheep's clothing,_ " the woman finished.

Kyoko let go of Makoto's shoulder and stepped around the couch, sitting down slowly to his right. As she lowered herself, she reached down with her free hand and grabbed the TV remote, lightly tossing it onto the far right edge of the couch. At last, she sat down close enough to Makoto that the pants of her pajamas were leaned up against his exposed leg.

" _To your point,_ " the man interjected, " _Naegi-kun did talk at great length in his conference speech about the — and this is a quote — 'unfathomable losses caused in large part by the old Hope's Peak's actions and policies.' He also revealed a large memorial to all of the Hope's Peak students who were killed during the tragedy, and when I say 'large,' I mean that it's taking up one-quarter of the central quad._ "

" _Right, so I don't think it's fair to say that he's trying to 'erase all the deaths that happened there',_ " the blonde lady offered.

Kyoko nodded silently beside Makoto.

" _Isn't he effectively erasing the accomplishments of others by taking leadership over them, though?"_ the woman on the right asserted. _"Doesn't the fact that his position puts him in charge of the school mean that he ranks above even such intelligent people as Kirigiri-san, which thereby implies his sense of superiority over her? This, despite the fact that he wouldn't be alive at all without her help!_ "

Makoto and Kyoko both winced. Kyoko then picked up the TV remote from beside her. Makoto noticed her actions, however, and whispered, "Not yet."

Kyoko looked over to him for a moment. She was still holding the remote at the ready, and her face was etched with concern... but she acquiesced, leaving the program running.

" _As you referenced earlier, the two of them are in a relationship,_ " the man noted. " _So I'm sure that Kirigiri-san has had more than ample opportunity to express her wishes to him. Why do you assume she didn't take that position by choice?_ " the man asked.

" _Why would she?!_ " the woman on the right shot back. " _She's obviously overqualified to be running school security or whatever she may be doing in there. I suppose she might be taking the lesser position just to placate Naegi, but... well, am I the only one who still has questions about the nature of their relationship?_ "

The blonde woman laughed a bit. " _I admit, it_ is _a strange coupling. I do hope she isn't just settling for him so she can continue the Kirigiri legacy A-S-A-P._ "

On the TV, the entire group laughed. Kyoko pushed the power button with an unnecessary amount of force, then threw the remote aside with a scowl.

After a deep breath, she looked over at Makoto, who appeared sullen. "Don't let it get to you," she advised in a hushed tone.

"How can it _not_?" Makoto pleaded, squeezing her hand in his. "Hell, it even got to _you_."

"I don't appreciate someone else explaining the supposed reasons why I'm doing anything," Kyoko said grimly. She cocked her head slightly, regarding the TV. "Still... I'm already working to move past it."

Makoto tried to nod, but his head wavered. His expression was pained, and his voice cracked as he said, "I've spent every moment since we woke up into this twisted world trying to do the right thing — to help people in any way I can and protect my friends." He paused to swallow away the lump in his throat and rub the tears from the edges of his eyes. "Now people think I'm this... this vile human being who's selfish, egotistical-"

"They're deeply, willfully uninformed," Kyoko interrupted, barely suppressing her anger. "These are the kind of claims that are easily proven wrong with even a shred of evidence. In fact, anyone who paid attention to you during the killing game or your public appearances for the Future Foundation knows precisely how mistaken they are."

Makoto looked away, thinking to himself for a few seconds before he half-whispered, "If I was like that, you'd tell me... r-right?"

Kyoko cocked an eyebrow at him. "Do I seem like someone who keeps her opinions to herself?" she cracked.

When he looked back at her again, he once more had tears in his eyes. "I'm _serious_ ," he insisted. "I don't want to go through life utterly blind to what people think of me. If I'm screwing things up, I want to fix them."

Kyoko's eyes glanced down sadly, then back up to his. She licked her lips for moisture before saying, "Of course I would tell you. But I swear to you that there's nothing to tell. This is just one person's opinion."

"I doubt it's isolated," Makoto countered.

"Maybe not," Kyoko acknowledged. "Even so, anyone who'd say these things has probably never paid that much attention to you in the first place. They're just resentful of your celebrity status."

"I never asked for this," Makoto said sourly, hanging his head. "I never called _myself_ the 'Ultimate Hope.'"

"If you need someone to blame," Kyoko suggested sympathetically, "You can blame me. I was the one who first came up with the label, after all."

He shook his head, keeping it low. "None of this is your fault," he said with sudden confidence. "It can be mine for how I carried myself, or it can theirs for how they're seeing me. This is no one else's problem to bear."

"Then believe me when I tell you that it's not your fault, either," Kyoko said with determination. She turned her whole body now, placing her other hand atop the first one so that they were stacked upon his right. "And if that's not enough, you can ask Asahina-san, Hagakure-kun, Togami-kun, Fukawa-san and even your sister. They'll all have your back. Not only do they know you better than anyone from the outside world ever could - they're also the tip of a much bigger iceberg. It wasn't any of us that made you an inspiration to billions. It wasn't any of us that really made the 'Ultimate Hope' label a global phenomenon. All of that? It required that other people see you, be touched by your words, and find hope within them. There are more than enough people who will stand up for you on this, because they're the people who truly kept that label alive. They're the reason you're the Ultimate Hope."

Makoto raised his head and looked straight ahead, contemplating her words for a few moments of silence. Kyoko smiled as he turned to look at her once more. "Thank you," he told her. "But those people on TV are at least correct about one thing."

"What's that?" she asked.

He gave her a tiny smile. "You're seriously out of my league," he said sheepishly.

Kyoko rolled her eyes and smirked, shaking her head. "I'll be the judge of that," she insisted.

"Heh," he chuckled mildly, sounding a little sad. Clearing his throat, Makoto said, "You know... thank you for everything you just said."

"I meant every word," Kyoko responded lovingly.

"Unfortunately," Makoto began, "Some of what I saw _before_ that segment was... actually even worse."

"You're talking about the segment you saw with the protestors," Kyoko observed flatly.

Makoto tilted his head in surprise. "You were standing behind me for _all of that_?" he asked, surprised.

"No," Kyoko told him with a quick shake of her head. "But I got a text from security alerting me to their presence that woke me up. That was right before I overheard the TV from the bedroom."

Makoto nodded a bit at that. His eyes flitted around the room as though he was trying to find a way to explain his feelings. "That guy out there... he had a whole horde of followers with him."

"That doesn't mean his opinion matters," Kyoko stated firmly.

"Why not?" Makoto asked. "Doesn't everybody's?"

"Not if their opinions are ignoring all scientific evidence that disproves them," Kyoko remarked.

"I mean, it's one thing for _me_ to be hated," Makoto said, looking like he was still confused by what he'd heard. "I can take that a lot more than seeing _us_ hated."

"Me and you?" Kyoko asked, seeking clarification.

"And Asahina-san, Togami-kun, Fukawa-san — even Komaru," Makoto went on. " _All_ of us. Our very survival makes them suspect and hate us, and I can't even begin to understand _why_. I mean, everyone's seen who the mastermind was! It was globally televised, and it's been confirmed again and again through the lingering effects of her actions! So why suspect _us_?"

"Look, I can't say that I understand it either," Kyoko said gently. "In murder cases, in a courtroom? Facts matter. The truth matters. That's the world I prefer to live in. In the court of public opinion, however... it can be a whole other story. Still, there is a reason that people cling to these sorts of conspiracy theories, even in light of all the evidence to the contrary."

"What is it?" Makoto asked urgently.

"It's because they're too scared to accept the truth," she answered simply. "The idea that one person could cause so much devastation and death? That's frightening to a lot of people. "

"So it's less frightening to suggest that we all masterminded it together _and_ got away with it?!" Makoto asked in disbelief.

Kyoko shrugged half-heartedly. "For the world as they understand it? Yes. People tend to shape their beliefs based on what they can comprehend. Someone who believes that those in power are always deserving and wise is more likely to believe that an obvious fool placed in a position of power must secretly be intelligent. By the same token, they may insist that a genius opponent could never be stymied by someone who appears comparatively normal. That's how you get the sorts of people we sometimes dealt with in the 14th branch: The ones whoo believe that Enoshima must still be alive. That kind of person isn't likely to be swayed by DNA evidence, because they aren't thinking with their brains. They're letting their emotions control them — and nothing is more emotional than someone's individual values."

Makoto looked down and shook his head sadly. "Getting wrapped up in our emotions, letting feelings override the facts... that's the kind of stuff that almost got us killed in Enoshima's sick game more than once. People around the world saw that, and yet... I guess they didn't learn anything from it."

Kyoko smirked sadly. "Most people think they're smart," she said ruefully. "Deep down, they believe they understand the world better than most of those around them. When major events shock or surprise them, they try to realign those things into slots that they can understand. It's... a coping mechanism."

" _You_ don't do that," Makoto said to her, smiling sadly.

"Neither do you," Kyoko told him. "For good or ill, it takes a special kind of person to let hard facts always be the driver of their truth."

She paused, smiling affectionately as she looked into Makoto's eyes. "Mind if I tell you about a particularly thorny case I once investigated?"

He smiled a little more, his eyes brightening. "You know I love your detective stories," Makoto told her sincerely.

With a nod of appreciation, she began: "I once had to investigate the death of someone that widely admired in Japan — the kind of person that millions looked up to at one point."

"And you're just _now_ telling me this one?" Makoto inquired in surprise. "Or, wait — is this a story you've told me before?"

"Wait and find out," Kyoko teased him. "You see, not long into my investigation, I realized that the beloved figure in question was the instigator of their own demise. It wasn't suicide, mind you - but they still made some... _impure_ moral choices that led them to them dying quite painfully. It's a tough spot to be in, because I was well aware that anyone who carried around affection for this person was going to have a hard time accepting the facts."

Kyoko paused as Makoto glanced back at the TV for a moment, lost in thought. "I can see what you mean," he said, still looking away. "If I found out that someone I loved or looked up to had died because they were secretly mixed up with Yakuza thugs or got involved in some nasty drug deal or something... I don't know. I think I'd have time accepting that, too."

"But you _did_ accept it," Kyoko told him. Makoto looked over at her with a furrowed brow as she continued, "You did more than accept it — you took that fact and used it as ammunition in our search for the truth."

Makoto's face fell. "Oh," he said simply as he realized the obvious.

She chuckled a little at his reaction. "You probably had more admiration and affection for Maizano-san than any of us. Despite that fact, you managed to accept the truth. And when you did that, I knew right then and there that you were special." Kyoko reached out and put her left hand over his right one where it rested atop his knee. She squeezed his hand gently.

"I thought I was 'comparatively ordinary'?" Makoto prodded in response, managing a smile.

"You only _appeared_ so," she corrected him, cracking a grin. " _I_ certainly knew otherwise, and I still do."

"So, aaahhh... " he said nervously. "You aren't... _settling_ for me, are you?"

"I don't settle," Kyoko replied quickly and with total confidence. " _Ever_. The truth is, I was never looking for a relationship. The whole 'continuing the Kirigiri legacy' thing? That's not something I've prioritized in my life. But sometimes, you find what you need before you realize you even need it."

Makoto nodded sagely. "Like items in a point-and-click adventure game," he said with dead seriousness.

She paused for a second to give him an amused look before she went on. "Try asking Mitarai-kun about the way I talked about you when we were trapped in the old Future Foundation headquarters. Or you can ask Asahina-san how I talked about you before we got together. Quite frankly, anybody who doesn't believe that my feelings are sincere or that I could love you is as delusional as the people who believe we masterminded the apocalypse."

Makoto looked thoughtful for a moment. "Then that must mean... "

Suddenly, Makoto raised his hands and pretended to look horrified. " _Ermahgerd, you're the evil mastermind I'm doooooooomed_ " he cried in a tiny, cartoonish voice. He couldn't help but smile in the midst of his performance, and as he finished, he laughed at his own goofiness.

Kyoko laughed heartily and fell forward, burying his face in his chest. Her voice was slightly muffled as she laughed out: "You... you unbelievable, insecure, adorable _doofus_."

He laughed along with her, wrapping his arms around her back. As they both calmed down, Kyoko raised her head out of his chest and got onto her knees. Makoto, in turn, kept his hands on her lower back and looked up into her eyes. "You know," he said, "I can't seem to rely on being 'lucky' very often, but at least I know luck was there for me when it mattered. 'Cause how else did I wind up with you?"

"I'll let you in on a little secret," Kyoko said, leaning forward so that her face hovered just centimeters away from his. "Your so-called 'luck' isn't as much of a factor in your life as you think it is."

Makoto squinted at her, looking perplexed while maintaining a delighted smile. "And how'd you come to _that_ conclusion?"

She leaned in a tiny bit more, touching the tip of her nose onto his. From there, Kyoko spoke quietly: "Because I know what oddities of causality and probability look like. I've met Nagito Komaeda, and I've watched the way events spiral bizarrely around him. You, on the other hand? You stumble and fall at times, but you don't come up from it brutally injured or miraculously unscathed. If you knock a rock from a ledge, the rock just falls to the ground; it doesn't escalate into a boulder or get picked up by the wind to come rushing back at your face."

"I don't understand how you're making this sound so sexy," Makoto said under his breath, feeling sweat begin to bead on his forehead.

Kyoko smiled wide, but she persisted: "What I mean is that even an outside observer can see that your life is 90% free of random, unlikely happenstance. Yet despite that, you consistently say the perfect words at the right times. You make the correct decisions when the going gets tough, and just as you said - you try to always do the right thing and protect your friends. The reason you survived two killing games isn't because of your 'luck,' it's because of smart choices that are as brave as they are wise. And the reason I'm in love with you isn't 'luck' either - it's because of the quality of man you are."

Makoto's mouth formed a broad, open-mouthed grin. He tried to speak, but only managed an "Iiiii... eh... ha?"

"See?" Kyoko said, grinning with delight. "You even know when _not_ to speak."

She leaned forward and kissed him softly, moving her arms under his shoulders.

And just like that, all of Makoto's worries — the same ones that felt so heavy a few minutes before — had completely melted away.

* * *

My apologies for running long on this one, but I had things I needed to get out and I used this fic as a venting platform.

I hope you enjoyed it in spite of (or because of?) that.


	19. The Comments

Kyoko Kirigiri entered headmaster Makoto Naegi's office to find him seated at his desk in front of his laptop with his head leaned back to stare at the ceiling. "Are you stretching your neck, or is something wrong?" she asked with a sympathetic smile.

Makoto lifted his head to look and her and couldn't help but smile at the sight of her face. "Uh, hey... " he said absent-mindedly.

Kyoko narrowed her eyes accusingly at him, then glanced at the light from his computer. "Maybe something on here," she muttered as she reached out and spun the laptop around.

"HEY!" Makoto yelled as he bolted upright and jumped out of his chair. He reached over and grabbed onto her arm, but by then she was bent over slightly and scanning the page. Her eyes rapidly changed from accusatory to sad. More specifically: Disappointed.

On the screen, a web browser was open. The window's header bar revealed that it was a news story about her and Makoto's recent engagement announcement. At the top of the screen, she only the bottom edge of a video window. Most of the screen was filled with the remarks various users had left below the news video. One such entry from a user named "HOPESUXXX69" stated, "cant belive that LITTLE BITCH NAYEGGE scored such a stone cold fox." A reply to that comment said, "You mean ice-cold fox...chick is genius but dead inside."

The rest of the screen went on in a similar fashion:

"HOORAY4PANTS:  
I hope we see wedding pics!1  
-GETTHAFUNK:  
-I hope we see wedding NIGHT pics ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

ENOSHITZMABED:  
fuck yeah these two deserve to be happy its the ultimatt victory FUCK DESPAIR  
-DESPAIRLIVESON  
-Fuck YOU kid. These two and u deserve DEATH i should come to your house and kill u

HOPEZPEEKFAN4LIFE:  
Wow CONGRATULATIONS! I love them - they inspire me!

RINJINJIN2002:  
I herd there are Naegi dick pics somewhere online IS IT TRUE?!

MAONYANYAN:  
FAKE NEWS. I saw the Killing Game and they were clearly just platonic bc Kirigiri is a lesbian. Anyone can see that.

YUKITERRIER:  
You all are disgusting. Let them live and love in peace plz."

Once she was finished reading the page, Kyoko looked over at her fiancé wearily. "Makoto," she said. "What is the number-one thing that I always tell you about videos on the Internet?"

The young man hung his head in shame. " _Don't read the comments_ ," he parroted at her.

"And... what is it you've been doing on your laptop?" she continued.

"...reading the comments," he admittedly sheepishly.

Kyoko smirked in amusement. "I suppose it could've been worse," she acknowledged. "At least they weren't overloaded with Despair sympathizers."

Makoto lifted his head. "I guess," he muttered. "It's still hurtful, though. To both of us — I don't like anyone talking about you like that."

She shrugged his concern off. "I can take it," she assured him. "But I don't think everything about you was hurtful." She smiled subtly and asked, "What, you aren't flattered that people want to see your genitals?"

He managed to smile at that. "Aaahhh, not so much," he said with a chuckle. His expression became more serious as he said, "One of those comments did make me stop and think, though. It's something I've been wondering about for a while."

Kyoko looked him in the eyes and deadpanned, "There's no need to wonder — I'm _not_ a lesbian."

He grinned at her. "Not that part," he laughed. Makoto slid one foot around the floor awkwardly as he said, "I just... how _did_ I wind up with someone as amazing as you? You're not just a 'fox,' you're also brilliant and kind and you helped me to grow — you took me under your wing and taught me things that helped keep me alive. And yes, I know what people say about me, I know what some people seem to believe, but it's always sounded so overblown." He shook his head. "A lot of people could've done what I did. I'm only where I am today because of my... my luck, I guess."

Stepping towards him, Kyoko placed her gloved hands onto his arms. "Whatever 'luck' has done for you, it definitely doesn't define you," she told him. "You're a man of strong will and intelligence. You're a good person with an excellent moral compass and a charming desire to understand others. I came to admire you for all of those reasons, plus many more."

As Kyoko looked into his eyes, she saw Makoto's mouth slightly part with surprise at her words. See that just made her smile grow — A _fter all this time, he can still be surprised by how I feel about him_ , she thought warmly.

She continued, "Despite whatever self-esteem issues you may be burdened with, you never give up. You never stop, you never back down, and you fight to the bitter end for what you know is right." She could feel her mouth going dry, and she paused to swallow. "You're wrong that anyone could be like you, because I've never met anyone else like you," she said quietly. "And I couldn't ask for more. I could never want anything more than what you've given me. It's... honestly more than I ever hoped for, before I met you."

Makoto felt his eyes starting to water. He swallowed away the lump in his throat and hoarsely insisted, "But I'm not... I'm _not_ all of that."

It was Kyoko's turn to chuckle at him. "No, that's true," she said affectionately. "You're all of that _plus_ physically attractive."

He laughed for only a moment because that was all the time he had before she pressed her mouth to his and kissed him: gently, softly, lovingly. He tilted his head upward a fraction, and they wrapped their arms around each other in a light embrace.

In seconds, all of his doubt was washed away.


	20. Desk Job

Byakuya Togami knocked twice on the door to Kyoko Kirigiri's office before he swung the door open. He stepped into the room, stopping just inside of the doorway to find Kyoko standing behind her desk and looking down at her computer monitor.

The sight of her standing upright at her desk while leaning over her PC struck him as mildly unusual. "Preparing to go somewhere?" he asked.

She bit her lip pensively as she continued to stare at the screen, finally lifting her head after a few more seconds. "Ah, no," she answered, sounding distracted. "I'm just stretching my legs for a minute. You know how it is when you're trapped in the office for an extended period. There are days when running the Future Foundation feels like it's a desk job."

"Mm," Byakuya grunted in muted agreement. "I wager that many of us will increasingly be working 'desk jobs' once the New Hope's Peak is open and operating."

"Perhaps... " she said vacantly, her eyes drifting back to the computer. After a few seconds, her eyes blinked closed. Her brow furrowed as she appeared to concentrate.

Byakuya frowned. "You seem preoccupied," he told her. "What, are you concerned about the budget meeting this afternoon?"

Her eyes flashed open again, returning their focus to him. "Somewhat," she responded. "Obtaining and diverting the necessary amount of funding towards the resurrection of a school that so many now hate... " She paused and let out a deep, ragged sigh. "It's no small feat," she concluded.

"That's why I'm here," Byakuya said, lifting a thin stack of papers in his left hand. "If you're serious about pursuing Naegi's pet project, I'll need you to sign these papers in order to redirect Foundation funds towards the renovations."

"Sure," Kyoko said quietly.

He began to approach her desk, but only made one step before-

" _Stop_ ," she suddenly commanded him. The firm, urgent tone of her demand made him freeze in mid-stride.

After pausing to blink for a second, Byakuya's confusion swiftly transformed into anger. " _Excuse me_?!" he growled through gritted teeth. His eyes narrowed, and he took a deep breath before he went on. "You _will not_ order me around like I'm-"

"I-I'm sorry," Kyoko said, looking down at the top of her desk. "I'm just... not in the most pleasant of moods, and I'd rather not be within a meter of anyone today." She blinked a couple of times before harshly emphasizing, " _Anyone_."

Byakuya shook his head rapidly in annoyance. "What on Earth does _that_ mean? Is this some kind of-"

"Please, I sincerely apologize," she continued, interrupting him. Kyoko pointed one gloved hand towards a small end table next to her office door that couldn't have been more than 20 x 20 centimeters. "If you leave the paperwork on the table by the door, I promise to have it back to you within the hour."

Looking at her blank, nervous expression, Byakuya could only raise one eyebrow in confusion. The moment of curiosity passed, however. It was swiftly replaced by the return of his anger. " _Fine_ ," he said at last. "I'll be expecting some form restitution for your ill manners when we next speak."

"I'm not surprised," Kyoko stage-whispered. She leaned forward and arched her back inward, letting out a quiet groan as her back made a subtle _pop._

Byakuya dumped the paperwork in a heap on the table and turned to shoot her an icy look as he left, finally shutting the door with a moderate _slam_ on his way out.

As soon as the sound of the door shutting stopped reverberating off of the walls, Kyoko slumped to the floor behind her desk, seating herself on the ground. Glancing down, she regarded the naked lower half of her body with embarrassment.

" _Holy hell_ ," she said with relief. "If Togami had taken another step towards the desk, he would've seen everything from my waist down!"

Makoto Naegi crawled out on all fours from beneath her desk with a broad smile on his face and nothing on his body above his belt. "I'm impressed by how long you managed to maintain your calm up there," he teased her.

She looked at him with incredulity. " _Thanks_ , I suppose?," she replied, smiling in spite of herself. "It would've been nice to have some kind of advance warning about your little endurance test, though."

Makoto looked sideways and half-shrugged. "You're the one who had to tempt me by leaning the Kiri Funhouse into my face."

Kyoko covered her face with one hand, looking mortified. She left left just one eye to peek out at him from between her gloved fingers as she mumbled, "'The Kiri Funhouse'? Are you serious right now?!"

Still on all fours, Makoto smiled shyly and asked, "Ah, too silly?"

" _Ridiculous_ ," she replied as strongly as she could — which wasn't all that strong given that she was giggling at him by now. She covered her mouth with both hands and tried to bring the giggles to an end.

After a couple more seconds, Kyoko's face still looked flushed but she had managed to at least get a handle on her own self-conscious laughter. As soon as she removed her hands, Makoto leaned forward and kissed her, sucking on her lower lip as he pulled away — and guaranteeing that her cheeks would remain reddened.

With a warm smile, Kyoko told him, "I hope you realize that I would've been moaning right into Togami's face if I hadn't concentrated on my screensaver the entire time."

"Maybe lock the door next time," he answered with a chuckle.

"I confess I was too distracted to think about it," Kyoko said back.

"Hold up a minute — you still use a screensaver?!" Makoto asked her in genuine shock. He sat back on his haunch and craned his neck to look up at her desk as he commented, "Nobody needs those anymore! Just how old _is_ that computer?"

"It's not the computer's fault," she responded with faux indignation. "It's a personal choice." Her expression turned more serious as she added, "I find it soothing. It makes me feel... nostalgic, I suppose."

"I guess you do have an established taste for old-fashioned things," Makoto remarked.

"Sure," Kyoko agreed. "Vintage gloves, the concept of absolute truth... the Zeigarnik effect."

Makoto's head cocked to one side. "The _what_ effect?" he inquired in confusion.

She sat up straight, placed her hands onto her knees, and explained, "It's the psychological concept that our minds remain fixated on unfinished tasks for far longer than they recall the ones we complete. It's the driver behind our innate instincts to 'finish what we started.'" Kyoko smiled seductively at him. "In other words, would you mind... ?" She gestured down towards her thighs with one hand, leaving the rest of the request unspoken.

Makoto grinned at her. "My pleasure," he answered.


	21. The First Talk

"Nice night, huh?"

Kyoko Kirigiri looked up from the book she was reading to see one Makoto Naegi standing about four meters away from the stone bench where she was sitting. He had positioned himself beneath a light along the walking path so that she could clearly see him.

Kyoko was seated beneath one of other the lights along the path herself, right near the edge of Hope's Peak's central plaza. She looked around, both to try and spot any other people nearby and to quickly gauge the atmosphere of the evening. "It's pleasant enough," she acknowledged. She then lifted her left arm to check her watch. "12 minutes until midnight. You're going to miss curfew if you don't head for the dorms soon," she noted.

He slowly started walking towards her as he countered, "Won't _you_?"

She shook her head briefly. "The back entrance to the women's dorms is four minutes from here if I cut straight through the grass," she explained quickly. "However, to reach the men's dorm on the other side, you'd have to walk around the perimeter of the women's, then cross over to their front entrance. Given the length of the building, that's at least another three minutes."

Makoto stopped walking one meter in front of her, standing with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. "Well, uh... wow," he said awkwardly. "I guess you're not going to be staying here much longer, huh?"

"No," Kyoko said as she turned her eyes back to her book.

Makoto frowned slightly at the way the young woman seemed to be... ignoring him? _Attempting_ to ignore him? He wasn't the best at reading people, so Makoto wasn't certain that he was right on either count. "You can tell me if I'm bothering you," he told her in an attempt to get a bead on her feelings. "But I was just, y'know... hoping to talk to you?"

She looked back up from her book and examined his face curiously. "All right," she said, closing her book and setting it aside. "Can I ask why?"

The boy felt relief when she signaled she was open to the conversation, but the question threw him a bit. He glanced sideways and shrugged. "I've already talked to the rest of our classmates," he explained, feeling self-conscious. "I'm only... I'd like to get to know everyone I can in our class."

Kyoko raised one hand to her chin as if contemplating that idea while she looked him up and down. "Okay," she said softly. "Is that why you're out here at this hour?"

Makoto chuckled. "No, no," he said. "I was out for a walk. I wanted to enjoy the weather, see what the campus looks like at night... besides, I haven't slept much for the past few days." He grinned as he looked around the nearby buildings. "Being here... " he said in awe as he looked at the surrounding campus, "...it's just too exciting! We're at the launching point of our future — the dawn of the rest of our lives. And here we are, taking that ship out from the greatest port imaginable!"

The left corner of Kyoko's mouth curled up. "You're certainly... optimistic," she said with amusement creeping into her tone.

He smiled warmly at the remark. "I've been told that's my best trait," Makoto said. "So uh, you're the Ultimate Detective?"

"That is what this place calls me, at least," Kyoko said. "My name is Kyoko Kirigiri. And you're Makoto Naegi - this year's 'Ultimate Lucky Student.'"

Makoto covered his face with his hands in embarrassment. "Oh god, I forgot to introduce myself!" he sputtered, redness growing in his cheeks.

Kyoko was unable to hold back the smile that crept across her face. "It's okay," she assured him gently. "I've known you were part of this class since before I got here, after all."

He hung his head in shame, still quite embarrassed. "R-right," he said. "And they call my name when they're taking roll, I know. It's just... " He paused and raised his head to look at her again, biting his lip. "It's just polite," he finished.

She inspected his face carefully, pondering whether this boy was really as innocuous as he seemed. He locked eyes with her, then quickly looked away, blushing. _That was cute_ , she thought spontaneously, and suddenly the context of looking at his face changed in an instant. She was admiring the boyish good looks inherent to his cheek contours, the shape of his nose and-

"I didn't see _you_ in any of the identified student lists online," Makoto said as he turned back to face her and interrupted her thoughts. "But you're the headmaster's daughter, right?" he asked innocently.

Immediately, Kyoko's face went dark. Tightness filled her chest. "If you mean to imply that I'm only here because of _him_ ," she spat, "You can-"

"N-no!" Makoto said quickly, waving his hands in front of him. "I wasn't saying _that_ ," he insisted. He stepped closer, cutting the distance between them in half, then paused to swallow before continuing, "I was only saying that he must be really proud and happy to have you here."

Kyoko's eyebrows shot up as tightness in her chest deflated. "O-oh," she said calmly. "I... I wouldn't know."

Makoto's shoulders slumped. "I see." He dragged a foot along the ground slowly, drawing a pattern as he searched for his next words. "I'm sorry to hear that."

She pursed her lips as she frowned. "It's fine," she said. "He was at the entrance ceremony, at least."

He scratched his cheek uncertainly. "But you didn't talk?" he asked uncertainly.

"No," Kyoko responded curtly. She blew out a breath slowly, then looked up at his face — now merely half a meter from her. "Well, come on." She scooted over on the stone bench.

Even so, he didn't move. "'Come on' and what?" he inquired, clueless.

 _Can anyone sincerely be this oblivious?_ Kyoko thought. Her eyes drifted sideways as she explained. "Quit hovering and sit down. If we're going to talk, let's do so properly."

"Oh! Thanks!" he answered brightly. He took his hands from the pockets of his hoodie and spun around, plopping down on the bench next to her. "So what're you reading? Is it for school?"

"No, it's for personal enjoyment," Kyoko informed him. " _The Finishing Stroke._ It's an old novel that... well, it reminds me of simpler times."

"Oh I get it," Makoto answered. He sounded confident as he theorized, "You like to read about times gone by and think back on how people's lives used to be slower-paced and more relaxed, huh?"

Kyoko's forehead furrowed. "Uh, no," she said flatly.

Makoto blinked a couple of times while staring at her. "Then wha-"

"Ellery Queen stories are an old favorite of mine," she explained calmly. "I used to read these stories... " She paused and let out an exasperated sigh in an attempt to release her lingering tension. "Nevermind," she said at last.

Makoto smiled sympathetically at her. "They remind you of when you were younger," he observed gently. "So... you're reading this book because it reminds you of a time when your relationship with your dad wasn't so complicated."

Kyoko stared at the boy he'd begun speaking in tongues. "I... yes. That's it exactly," she said quietly. She returned his smile with a small one of her own, locking eyes with him. "Nicely deduced. Or was that due to your luck?"

He laughed a little and shrugged, "I dunno," he admitted. "My luck isn't really the kind of thing I can see in action, if you can understand that."

"Ah," she said back. "May I ask you another question?"

"Absolutely," he responded.

"Why am _I_ the last person you talked to in our class?" she asked, still smiling.

"Oh - no reason," Makoto said, glancing down. "I just couldn't seem to corner you anywhere. You keep to yourself, and... well, you move pretty fast when classes end."

Kyoko closed her eyes and considered his answer. "I see," she said. "You're not wrong."

"So why _is_ that?" Makoto said back. "You never linger after class, you haven't gone to the first couple of social events... are you avoiding everybody?"

The subtle smile on her face faded, and she opened her eyes. "Well," she started to tell him, "I have a... very particular reason for wanting to attend Hope's Peak that I'm focusing my energies on. It doesn't involve socializing."

"All right then," Makoto said, examining her face. _Wow, she's... really pretty DON'T say that out loud._ "But what if you're missing out on something that could really change your life here?" His speech escalated in speed and volume progressively as he went on: "This could be the place where you meet the best friends you'll ever know! Maybe the love of your life! Or a new detective partner? I mean, _anything_ is possible!"

Kyoko's eyelids drooped and the corners of her mouth twinged upwards a bit. She replied, "How do you keep up this level of enthusiasm? Are you on _drugs_ or... "

"Nothing like that!" he insisted with a blush. "I'm just... a little more gung-ho than most people, heh." He looked down and to the side, smiling in spite of himself.

She raised her hand back to her chin, contemplating that. "Perhaps you're so excited about Hope's Peak because you never expected to be here," she suggested. "I took considerable effort to make my way here, and I always expected to succeed. You, on the other hand, neither tried to make your way here nor anticipated it. Is that right?"

"Of course it's right," he told her sheepishly. "I always looked up to Hope's Peak... obviously. Everybody does, right?"

Kyoko idly glanced towards the Reserve Course Building at the far end of the campus, then looked back at him. "I suppose there's truth to such a claim," she mused.

"But there's nothing special about me," Makoto said, bearing an expression that looked both grateful and guilty. "I just got here because of a random drawing."

"That second statement may be the truth," she told him. She squinted as she added, "However... I feel like there _is_ something distinctive about y-"

"Oh _crap_!" Makoto yelled. He jumped to his feet. "I'm _so_ sorry but I gotta go!" He eyes were bulging as he looked down at her and blurted, "The curfew!"

"Calm down," Kyoko ordered him. She smiled tightly once more. "I'll walk you back to your dorm."

"B-but," he stammered as he started to sweat, "You said that it'd take me seven minutes to-"

Kyoko stood up with her book under her right arm. She ran her left hand through her hair as she told him, "It'll be fine. I have multiple ways of getting in after the doors lock."

Makoto's jaw hung open for a second before he repeated, "'Ways of getting'... what? But isn't that against — I mean, you're a _detective_!"

" _Private_ detective," she corrected him. "I'm not with the police _or_ with Hope's Peak Security, for that matter."

Makoto took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay," he said finally. "You walk me back, and I'll walk you back."

Kyoko narrowed her eyes, but she was obviously amused. "That's not how this works," she said. "I don't need your help to get into _my_ dorm."

"I'm just trying to be chivalrous," he offered, throwing up his hands. "Besides, I'm sure you can teach me your break-in trick."

"Oh," she said in realization. "Trying to make me reveal my secrets, are you?" she teased.

"Only if you're willing," he said with a grin.

"Not just yet," she told him as she started to move towards the women's dormitory.

He jogged a bit to make it alongside of her. "Well, then maybe you can tell me more about that thing you mentioned?" he suggested hopefully.

Kyoko raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you mean the thing I find dist-"

"Ellery Queen," Makoto explained with a guilty look. "I've... actually never heard of it."

Kyoko shocked herself by giggling just a tiny bit. "Sure," she promised.


	22. The Relaxation Program

Kyoko Kirigiri was reclining in a chaise lounge chair on a gorgeous beach lined with palm trees. With her eyes closed, she felt a cool breeze against her face, the warmth of the sun on her skin, and the grains of sand squishing between her toes.

She listened to the sound of the waves lapping against the beach and sighed contentedly. She'd been relaxing there for an hour, but it felt much longer. Time seemed to dilate here. She was so detached from reality that she didn't even notice at first when the sound of footsteps in the sand began to overlay the noise of the waves. Not that she was worried about who was approaching — she knew exactly who it was.

"Thought I might find you here," Makoto Naegi said. Shortly after the sound of his voice interrupted her reverie, she felt the warmth on her skin diminish. She opened her eyes to see him standing over her right side, wearing only a pair of dark green swim trunks. His shadow had fallen over her, but he was smiling brightly enough to make up for the reduction in direct sunlight.

"You're standing in my sun," Kyoko replied, teasing him.

"Sorry. Should I ask Alter Ego to move the sun?" Makoto joked.

"Heh," was her only response. She sat upright and reached out with her right hand, grabbing his left. With a small, affectionate grin, she told him, "This gift - I still love it."

"I'm so glad," Makoto said in a voice so delighted that he nearly squeaked. "Do you think it's helping?"

She looked around the beach, the gently swaying palm trees, and the vistas of neighboring mountains before finally settling on locking her eyes with his. "Phenomenally so," she assured him. "Sometimes I even sneak in here for just a few minutes after a tough conversation with other members of the Hope's Peak staff. The views alone can reduce the tension that I feel in even that short a time."

"The views _are_ spectacular," Makoto said back, although he wasn't focused on the scenery when he agreed with her. Rather, his eyes were admiring the sight of Kyoko's body in a black bikini.

Kyoko smirked a little and twisted her torso, leaning closer to him so she could run her left hand over the smooth skin of his bare chest. "You're a fine addition to the scenery, yourself," she told him flirtatiously.

Makoto looked away shyly and appeared to blush. "It's, ah... " he said nervously. He looked down and noticed her bare hand. "Wait... "

She raised her left hand a little higher to help him inspect it more closely. "No scars," she pointed out. "I can adjust how I look in this virtual world, after all."

Makoto took her left hand in his right and shook his head. "I miss the scars," he confessed, feeling embarrassed. "I prefer the _real_ , complete Kyoko experience, if that makes sense?"

"I thought you might," Kyoko acknowledged, looking at him with adoration. "I just wanted to try out the change. But with scars or without, in the real world or the virtual one, you'll always have as much of me as I can give."

Makoto closed his eyes and blushed harder still, fighting a full-on grin. When he opened his eyes again, he was gazing at the horizon. The view distracted him for a moment. He asked, "Do you think the mountains make it still look too much like Jabberwock?"

Kyoko swiveled her legs off the side of the chair and then stood up in front of him. As she went, she slid her left hand around his back and removed her right hand from Makoto's left, taking care to slid both of them over his pelvic muscles and bones before she stopped to embrace his lower back. The sensation of her hands gliding over his body quickly returned Makoto's full attention to Kyoko.

"I don't care," Kyoko said, looking deep into his hazel eyes. "All I see is the beauty of this private beach, and all I care about is the incredibly thoughtful gesture behind it."

Makoto's pulse quickened as he moved his own hands onto each of her hips and looked back at her. "I know you internalize a lot of the stresses of the job. I just wanted... well, you know what I wanted. But really, Alter Ego is the one who made it all possible. It's not like I know anything about programming or virtual spaces or anything like that."

Kyoko smiled affectionately and shook her head at him before leaning in for a gentle kiss on his lips. As she pulled back, she bit his lower lip a little, tugging on it as she went.

"Tell me," she whispered just inches from his face. "Does Alter Ego watch _everything_ we do in here?"

Makoto looped one finger through one of the side ties on Kyoko's bikini bottom. "Um, not exactly. I know he watches our vitals and makes sure we don't stay in for like, five hours or more."

She tiled her head a little and gazed at him seductively. "Plenty of time, then."

* * *

 **Welcome to Naegiri Week for 2017. This is a Tumblr-based event that happens in December each year, and this year's Naegiri Week runs from December 18th through the 24th. I'm going to do my best to provide something for each day — if I can!**

 **The first day's theme prompt is "Relax," which inspired the story above, obviously. :)**


	23. Taking Stock

Kyoko Kirigiri pointed her flashlight between the double doors into the Entrance Hall of Hope's Peak Academy before she stepped through herself. The halls were dark save for a few emergency lights running on backup power, but the Entrance Hall only had two red lights on both sides of the enormous vault door that were still working. Those lights combined with her flashlight were enough to show her that Makoto Naegi was in the room. Even with his back turned to her, his hairstyle and hoodie made his identity obvious. Oddly, he was seated on the floor and facing towards the large door.

The glimmer of a new light source combined with the sound of her boots on the hard tile surface caused him to turn around out of curiosity, revealing that he had a spoon sticking out of his mouth. He smiled somewhat guiltily at her. Kyoko froze in place as the door to the hall swung closed behind her. "What are you doing?" she asked him.

"Uuhhh... " he responded.

"I thought my father asked you to check on the food reserves," Kyoko continued, her voice turning stern. "I believe you're supposed to be attempting to preserve the frozen items?"

Makoto pulled the spoon from his mouth and smiled confidently. "Done and done!" he proclaimed as he lifted his spoon into the air triumphantly. "I surrounded everything I could with dry ice. Maizono-san helped me determine how much to use for each pallet of food and where to place it all, so it went nice and quick. We didn't have quite enough to keep _everything_ frozen, but we came close."

Kyoko walked closer, stepping around Makoto's side before she shined her flashlight into his lap. Resting there, she saw an open one-liter container in the shape of a small cylinder. She smirked. "And I suppose this ice cream is one of the leftover items?"

"Gelato, actually," Makoto corrected her as he shoved his spoon back into the carton. "We managed to keep the ice cream frozen. When we got to this stuff, I decided that gelato is kind of a luxury item. Less necessary to keep in reserve, right?" He scooped another spoonful into his mouth.

Kyoko smiled subtly. "Hence why you're eating it," she stated.

"Welw _yuuh_ ," Makoto mumbled back with a shrug, his mouth still full of the stuff. He swallowed it before continuing, "It was gonna melt. No sense in letting it go to waste, right?"

Kyoko fought the urge to giggle at how cute he looked with his legs curled up underneath him as he continued to scoop a melting dessert into his mouth. "Surely there was more than one carton... " she suggested.

Makoto nodded and swallowed again. "Ah, of course," he agreed. "Maizano-san took the Mint Chip, Hagakure-kun dropped by just long enough to grab the Hazelnut and Tiramisu flavors. Um, but I saw him later when Maizono-san and I were finished with our work in the freezer, and apparently Ludenberg-san got the Tiramisu away from him in some kind of bet? Then Yamada-kun saw us and-"

"I get the picture," Kyoko said, raising one hand in order to cut him off. She switched her flashlight off at last, allowing the room to be swallowed by dim red light.

Makoto lifted up the carton in one hand and raised his eyebrows. "So, you want some?"

Kyoko brought her right hand to her chin, considering. "What flavor is it?" she inquired.

" _Double chocolaaaaate_ ," Makoto answered in a sing-song voice as he attempted to rock the carton back and forth in a tantalizing manner.

She closed her eyes and smiled. "Very well," Kyoko said back. "Let me go get a spoon."

"You can use mine!" Makoto replied quickly.

"What?" Kyoko shot back in surprise.

"I-I mean, if you'd like to," Makoto hastened to add. He looked down at the carton in his lap, averting his eyes. "I mean... I promise I'm not sick, and I don't have cooties or anything," he explained with an awkward titter.

"Oh," Kyoko said simply. She was suddenly grateful that the room was awash in red light, given that she could feel the blush on her cheeks. "Okay then." She lowered herself to the floor carefully, making sure to use one hand to keep her skirt down.

As she rested her rear on the floor just centimeters away from Makoto, she let out a small grunt. "To review," she began, "Fujisaki-kun and I connected a small, portable generator to our wi-fi router. Then Fujisaki-kun traced the source of the power outage, and we alerted my father. He soon let me know that Ikusaba-san had volunteered to head outside so as to determine more about the issue, and he then requested that I make my way to the entrance hall to await her report. I take it you're waiting for her to return as well?"

Makoto nodded as he scooped more gelato onto the spoon. "Right as usual," he said cheerily.

He held the spoon out towards Kyoko's mouth, but she jerked her head backwards instinctively. "I-I can... feed myself," she said softly.

He looked down at his lap and chuckled as he simultaneously lowered the spoon towards her hand. "I know. Just kidding," he assured her.

Kyoko took the spoon from his hand gingerly and slipped the gelato into her mouth, rolling it around her tongue a bit. "Wow," she said softly.

"Really good, right?" he asked.

She nodded a couple of times. "Thanks for offering to share." Despite the situation their "shelter" was facing, she felt a smile start to form on her face.

"Of course," Makoto said. He tossed off a half-shrug before taking the spoon back from her. "So, from what Ikusaba-san said, the blackout looks like it caused by someone on the outside? Like... on _purpose_?"

"That's how it appears," Kyoko agreed. "The electrical drain tracks back to a transformer on campus. It's re-routing the power to a subterranean area that doesn't seem to contain any structure — or at least, not one that appears on any of my father's maps of Hope's Peak. It's up to Ikusaba-san to radio us and tell us what she sees when she arrives at the transformer. She should be able to get us back to status quo once we talk her through the repairs. Maybe she can even identify what the electricity is being siphoned off for. Let's just hope the one responsible isn't lying in wait when she gets there."

Having loaded another spoonful of gelato up for her, Makoto extended the spoon back to Kyoko. "Well, I'm not too worried. Ikusaba-san can definitely handle herself out there - probably better than anyone else here, except maybe Ogami-san."

Kyoko took the spoon with a nod of gratitude. "You've talked to Ikusaba a few times, haven't you?" she asked before slipping the melty gelato into her mouth.

Makoto nodded back. "We've had a handful of conversations. Only when she's managed to slip away from her sister, honestly. Enoshima-san really likes to be the center her world, y'know? She's always trying to dominate the attention of her 'big sis.' Outside of her influence, though, Ikusaba-san is... quiet, but nice." He took the spoon back from her again.

"She's never been willing to talk to me," Kyoko noted, sounding a little bit sad. "She seems... difficult to get to know. She can come off a bit coldly."

Makoto smirked at her as he handed her another spoon of the gelato. " _Oh_?" His voice was laced with sarcasm as he added, "You think she's a little standoffish, then? Quiet, likes to keep her business to herself? Man... that must be tough to deal with. I can't imagi-"

"Okay, shut up," Kyoko said back with a giggle. She waved the spoon near his face in a mock-threatening manner. "We can't all be as comfortable with socializing as you are."

"I promise, I'm _far_ from comfortable with it," Makoto said with laugh, waving his hands in protest. "I just do it anyway. I force it, frankly." He lowered his hands and smiled at her. "I mean, it's worth it. How else would I get to know someone as cool as you?"

Kyoko's head and upper body jerked a fraction — enough to cause the spoon to shake and drop the dripping glob of gelato onto the floor.

"Aw," Makoto said. "I think we lost one."

"I'm not... _cool_ ," Kyoko protested awkwardly. Even saying the word outside of a reference to temperature felt odd to her mouth. "Just ask the rest of our class. I'm sure most of them find me inscrutable more than anything. Which, okay - I am _calm_ and _collected_ , I grant you that. But in the common sense of the word 'cool', I'm-"

"You're the coolest person I know," Makoto blurted. He felt instantly embarrassed and stared downward quickly, focusing his eyes on his lap. "By which I mean, you're my favorite — that is, you're _one_ of my favorite-"

"I admire you," Kyoko said softly.

It was Makoto's turn to jolt in shock. "What?" he asked.

Kyoko's hand lowered as she placed the spoon back into Makoto's lap. "You're earnest," she said. "People open up to you naturally, and you always see the best in them no matter what. You're optimistic in the darkest times... you see the world in a way I just can't. I was born into a role and talent that shows me the worst of humanity on a regular basis. That's part of what made me who I am. But you? Not even the Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History stopped you from putting your faith in others and expecting the best possible outcome. It's not like you're even doing it for their benefit. You're... genuine."

Makoto glanced sideways, unable to look her in the eye even as he made no attempt to hide his beaming smile. "You know, some people just think I'm naive," he said back. "So I'm really glad you see my outlook as... as the way that you do. As a good thing."

Her eyes squinted up a little as she told him. "It's more than good. It's inspirational. You bring others hope. Or at least... the truth is... you've brought hope to _me_."

He returned his eyes to hers, and they locked with one another. "Kiri... " Makoto began tentatively.

"What is it?" Kyoko said quietly. She leaned forward a bit.

Makoto swallowed, trying to calm his nerves. "I think you're-"

 _FSSSHSHHZZZT._

The sound of audio static emerged from within Kyoko's jacket. She frowned and reached outside, pulling out a small radio. Depressing the button on the side, Kyoko brought it to her mouth and demanded, "Say again?"

"Come in base," the voice Mukuro Ikusaba responded. "I'm at the transformer."

Instantly, Kyoko was all business. She stood upright and began to pace back and forth. "What do you see?" she asked.

Makoto stopped paying attention to their conversation as he exhaled raggedly, releasing the tension from his body. He looked down at the growing puddle of gelato within the carton on his lap. With a wry smile, he picked up his spoon and tried to scoop up some of the remaining soup.

* * *

 **Welcome to day 2 of Naegiri Week 2017. The prompt that inspired this story was 'Melt.'**

 **I'm doubtful that I'll have a story every day this week, but I'll continue to try my best.**

 **And if your name happens to be "1** **995hzq" on here, I promise I saw your messages, but I don't see any way to reply to them. Try PM'ing me!  
**


	24. Seeking Security

Sayaka Maizono was staring out the window of the Hope's Peak dining hall, looking over the plastic trees. "Pretty soon, these phony closed-in courtyards will be as close as we can get to the outside world," she said.

The entire 78th Class was seated around various tables in the dining hall - save for one Aoi Asahina. Even so, the room was largely quiet when she spoke, and the mood was somber.

Leon Kuwata was sitting in a chair pointed outward from one of round tables nearest the window. His attention quickly snapped to Sayaka when she spoke. "First off," he began, "We're still gonna be able to watch TV and use the 'net and that stuff." He tried to sound more confident as he continued, "And second, you don't know how long this thing will last. Maybe we'll go on lockdown and have to crack the school back open within a month — maybe even a week!"

Sayaka turned towards him and smiled sadly. "I kinda doubt it," she muttered.

Junko Enoshima was leaning on the back wall of the dining room, positioned just to the right of the board that was previously used to display each day's menu. Mukuro Ikusaba was standing near her sister as usual with her arms folded, apart from any wall or table, but Junko wasn't paying Mukuro any mind. Instead, Junko was filing her nails when she said, "Worried about somebody, Maizono-san?"

Sayaka turned and looked at her with some surprise. "Why would you ask me that?" she asked, her voice breathy.

Junko looked up at her and smiled. "You're staring out a fake window talking about wanting to see the outside world, which is basically a hellhole right now anyway, right? Seems like maybe you're thinking about some of the people who won't be as safe as us during this nastiness."

"Wow," Sayaka said. "Yeah, I _was_ thinking about some people I was worried about." Her expression shifted from shock to a warm smile in an instant. "Are you psychic, Enoshima-san?!"

Junko raised a hand to her face, covering her mouth and nose as she leaned back dramatically. "Maybe I just have really good intuition," she said coolly.

"HA!" yelped Yasuhiro Hagakure, who was hanging out next to Leon. "That's funny 'cause you just said the thing that Maizono-chi always says when _she_ -"

Celestia Ludenberg, over at the end of the longest table situated in the center of the room, lowered her teacup from her mouth. "That was the point of Enoshima-san's remark, Hagakure," she scolded Hiro. Hiro hung his head, facing down towards the surface of the table.

Junko looked at Hiro and Celestia with irritation. "Ignore them, Maizono-san," she said. Turning her attention back to Sayaka, she continued, "Why not tell about the people you're worried about? It'll probably help to get it out, right?"

Sayaka looked down at the floor. "Maybe... " she conceded.

Makoto Naegi was seated near the middle of the center table. He finally turned his attention to Sayaka and Junko. "You don't need to talk about anything you don't feel comfortable with," he advised Sayaka. "We all know this is... it's a tough time."

His neighbor was Kyoko Kirigiri. She was sitting down to Naegi's right as she reviewed some notes in the Kirigiri Case Notebook. She'd been researching what they knew about the tragedy that had rapidly engulfed the world in an attempt to understand how it had spread so quickly and was only faintly following the conversation in the room. However, the sound of Makoto's voice finally shook her from her focus. _There he goes again_ , she mused. _Always quick to offer sympathy and support_.

As Makoto finished speaking, Aoi Asahina walked into the room. "I'm all done with my video record," she announced. "Ishimaru? The headmaster wants to record your acceptance next."

"Understood!" Kiyotaka said firmly. He stood up from one of the smaller round tables, where Mondo Owada gave him a thumbs-up as Taka headed out the door. Hina passed by him on her way to another one of the round tables. She took her seat next to Sakura Ogami, who put one of her large hands on Hina's shoulder sympathetically.

"Okay everyone," Sayaka announced, clearing her throat. "It's like Enoshima-san said... I was thinking about the people I'm leaving behind."

Makoto stood up and adjusted his position, turning to sit down on the table itself. Kyoko looked over from her notebook when his butt came down beside her hands on the table. She stared at it for a few seconds, silently admiring how his jeans hugged his thighs and rear until she forced herself to turn back to her notes. _Hormones are the enemy of an alert and productive mind_ , she reminded herself. _I wish dad had invested some of Hope's Peaks resources into finding ways to control invasive biological urges..._

"We're all thinking about them," Makoto said to Sayaka while remaining oblivious of Kyoko's attentions. "But all of us who have families waiting for us have talked to them and gotten their support. Heck, my family was shocked that I would ever _not_ want to take this opportunity."

"It's not just my family," Sayaka told him. "The ones I'm most worried about are the other members of my group. We all worked so hard to succeed. We made our careers _together_ , ever since we were kids, and I just want all of them to be okay." Sayaka lifted her hand to her mouth and put one finger against her lower lip, looking up towards the ceiling. "Ummm, especially Haneyama-san. She's always been my best friend from our idol group, but she lacks a lot of the confidence that put the rest of us up-front on the stage. I hope she's gonna be okay."

Junko laughed a little. "Girl, you have _nothing_ to worry about," she said. "My agent was already planning to squirrel my butt away in some safe house before he heard about Hope's Peak's lockdown plan. I'm sure the reps for your group have similar plans. They're gonna wanna keep their stars shining as inspiration for the world and all that."

Sayaka smiled at Junko. "I'm sure you're right," she said brightly. "Thank you for that, Enoshima-san!"

Junko smiled so brightly that she squinted. "No big!"" she said. "Maybe we should _all_ share the people we're most worried about, yeah?" She looked out across the dining hall and spoke up loudly as she continued, "This is an awesome opportunity, peeps! We can let out the fears we all have about the people stuck outside of this school, and grow even closer as a class in the process." She grinned a big, toothy grin and threw her arms wide as she shouted, "So c'mon, people! Let's give it everything we've got! Iiiiit's _bonding tiiiiiiiime!_ "

Kyoko placed the notebook on the table and turned her head to Junko, frowning as she did so. _Typical of Enoshima_ , she thought with irritation. _Ever eager to stick her nose into other people's business._

Hifumi Yamada adjusted his glasses and chortled a bit. "Our Enoshima-dono has such stirringly dramatic flair!" he enthused. "You should become a narrator on an anime someday."

"Shit," Mondo groused. He leaned back in his chair and swung his feet up onto the surface of the table in front of him. "If we're really doin' this, who's gotta kick it off? I mean, I'm not sayin' it's not an okay idea. I'm just sure as hell not goin' first," he grumbled.

"Maizono-san already went first," Sakura pointed out from two tables over. "Just because Enoshima-san hadn't yet announced the idea that we can all share our concerns for others doesn't mean her admission doesn't still count."

"Whatever - I'm not going fuckin' _second_ , either!" Mondo shot back. He turned and looked over the room with a scowl until his eyes locked on Byakuya Togami seated at a table by himself in the far corner. "Hey, why not do an easy one next?" he offered, his expression brightening. "Let's make the poor little rich boy tell us about all the _nobody_ he's worried about."

Byakuya was reading a book in the corner, doing his level best to ignore the fact that Toko Fukawa was staring at him at the adjoining table. He didn't bother to look up as he fired back, "I never agreed to participate in the fashion model's latest farce."

With little more than a tiny smirk on her face, Kyoko laughed inwardly at the way Byakuya managed to make "fashion model" sound like an insult. That short distraction left her unprepared when Makoto opted to speak up with surprising authority in his voice. "No one is pressuring anybody to talk about their loved ones," Makoto said. "If you want to talk, I think that's great. But no one's gonna _make_ anyone open up." Kyoko sneaked an admiring look at Makoto's face when he finished, and she couldn't help but smile a little. She allowed herself another quick glance at the curvature of his butt before she picked up her notebook and attempted to return to her intended task.

Hiro, who was still looking downward at the table in front of him, swallowed so hard that many of the people around him actually could hear it. "Okay... sure," he began, speaking haltingly. "I'd kinda like to talk next. 'Cause I'm just... well, I'm _super_ worried about my mom," Hiro told the room. "She's always been there for me. She's like, the most important person in my life, and-"

"Hagakure-kun is a mama's boy!" Junko interrupted, momentarily gleeful. Her face fell as soon as she finished, though. "Actually, that may be _kinda_ cute, but it's also pretty predictable. Couldn't you have picked, like, a fortune-telling mentor some crap like that?" She let out an exaggerated, overwrought sigh. "Going with the parent is just so _obvious_ and _boring_."

"He-hey!" Hiro cried. He shot upright and pointed an angry finger at Junko. "You didn't set up any rules beforehand! And my mom is _not_ boring!"

"Whatever," Junko said, rolling her eyes. "Fine. Let the record show that Hagakure loves his mom and blah blah blah."

" _Stop it_ ," Makoto said sternly.

Kyoko's attention was once again diverted to Makoto. Mukuro also spun to look at Makoto, her eyes wide with either shock or fear — it was difficult to say. Junko's own face looked just a bit taken aback. "What now?" Junko asked.

After taking a deep breath, Makoto answered her. "Listen, Enoshima-san," he said calmly. "I know you're stressed out about this. We _all_ are. And I trust that your intentions are good by trying to have us open up to each other. But that _doesn't_ mean you can take your stress out on us while we do it by... by _insulting_ us while we bare our souls. That's just going to make things worse for everyone here — and it's going to make people resent you." He pushed off from the table and stood upright. "You want us to bond more? Start by not being cruel about it."

Kyoko smiled reflexively. _He can get rather intense at times_ , she thought. _Very admirably_ _so. He doesn't tolerate unfairness or injustice... it's hard to_ not _be attracted to that._

Further down the table, Hifumi Yamada pumped a fist in the air "Incredible protagonist speech, Naegi-dono!" he cheered.

"Well _damn_ ," Junko said with a giggle. "I didn't realize you could get so _commanding_ , Naegi-kun." She smiled at him, letting her eyes droop to a half-lidded stare. "Fine," she acquiesced. "I'll concede that I got a bit harsh. My bad; I'll try to tamp down the sarcasm."

"Yeah! G-good!" Hiro said, still sounding a bit rattled.

Makoto smiled and nodded to Junko in appreciation. "Thanks," he told her. "I just... um, sorry if that was... I mean, Ishimaru-kun wasn't here to make that kind of speech, so I tried to do what I think he would've done," he said softly, casting his eyes down to the floor. He ran one hand nervously through his head of hair before he sat back down on the table with a nervous chuckle.

Junko cocked an eyebrow at him in a way that made him wonder what she was thinking. With that, she looked to Hifumi. "Well, since _you_ liked Naegi-kun's speech so much, Yamada-kun, would you like to go next?"

Hifumi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm... " he hummed. "And _you_ , who has not always been kind in regards to my talents and hobbies? What assurance can _you_ give me that I shan't be mocked for my weaknesses, m'lady?"

As Junko attempted to debate Hifumi, Kyoko leaned towards Makoto. "I think you did very well," she said softly with a gentle smile on her face. Makoto turned to his side and looked down at her when he heard the remark. "However," Kyoko continued, "If your intent was to sound like Ishimaru-kun, I must confess that to my ears, you failed."

Makoto's eyes widened as the corners of his mouth simultaneously turned down. "What do you mean?" he said back.

She looked him in the eyes and said, "As far as I could tell, you sounded like Makoto Naegi."

He looked genuinely shocked by the compliment. "Re-really?" He blurted. He leaned forward, averting his eyes as he whispered. "I mean, well, of _course_ I sound like me, but... you don't think I sound kinda dumb when I get all gung-ho like that?"

"I think you sounded like the _exact opposite_ of 'dumb,'" she whispered back with more than a hint of unintended affection. She felt her chest flutter a bit, and something in the back of her mind screamed at her: _Don't betray your emotions. Don't expose yourself to vulnerability. Not again._

Before she could give into her feelings any further, she slid her chair from the table and stood up, turning to face Junko. "I have a suggestion," Kyoko stated, interrupting the model's appeal to Hifumi. "Why not tell us whom _you_ are worried about, Enoshima-san? I think such a gesture would be the ideal way to kick off your 'bonding time' activity."

Junko shrugged. "Sure, why not?" She winked at Kyoko before tacking on, "And in exchange, _you_ get to go next! I know you like to keep your feelings on the D-L, but I'll show you mine if you show me yours!" Junko smiled her huge smile, her eyes widening as she did so. "A fair deal, _n'est-ce pas_?"

Kyoko folded her arms, already exasperated with Junko's antics by now. "I suppose it is," she conceded. "Provided that _you_ go first."

Junko wrapped her arms around herself as though she were embracing her favorite person and closed her eyes, smiling so hard that she started to blush. "The truth is that I've got it better than most!" she enthused. She turned and looked at Mukuro, then opened her arms as though preparing to hug the air before her. "The most important person in my world is my big sis, and she's gonna be right here with me for this whole boring lockdown!" Mukuro smiled back and blushed happily as Junko immediately turned away and looked towards the false window. She curled the end of one ponytail around her finger, and spoke wistfully as she explained, "There _is_ something I've been doing with my spare time, though. Something you all probably don't know about. Something that... well, honestly? You might be a _teensy bit_ surprised by it."

Leon leaned forward in his seat. "Are we supposed to guess?"

Junko half-smiled at Leon and giggled. She put her hands on her hips, suddenly speaking haughtily as she declared, "You shan't be able to guess in even one hundred tries! Nay, not even _a thousand!_ " Dropping her hands, she looked at the floor and resumed her previous tone of voice. "So, y'know, I'll just tell ya straight up," she said, instantly depressed. "I've been kinda getting to know the class of 77-B a whole lot over the past few months. Even though I'm the underclassman, they've really gotten interested in learning about how _I_ deal with this big, ugly world. I mean, I _do_ see some pretty messed-up stuff in my line of work, so I guess it makes some kinda sense they'd want to know how I cope, I guess?"

Kyoko frowned only slightly, unsure if whether this was one of Junko's jokes. There didn't seem to be a clear patch to a punchline, though. "I suppose it does," Kyoko answered her. "It explains why you've gone missing for extended periods during the past semester," _There's something else_ , she sensed as she watched the blonde's expression. _Something she's not telling us. What would be the point of lying about_ this _though_? _Perhaps just to serve another one of her bizarre jokes or group activities_... _?_

Junko's face lifted a little, taking on a satisfied, pleasant look "Yeah, I've hung out with them a lot lately," she concluded. "We've gotten pretty tight. I want them to secure their futures as soon as possible," she told the room. "And I want them to take all necessary precautions as they do it."

Sayaka lifted her left hand to her mouth as she gazed on Junko now. "That _is_ surprising, Enoshima-san," she said shyly. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't know you had that kind of interest inside you."

Junko waved Sayaka's concern away. "No offense taken," she promised the young idol. "I try to keep how much I care about stuff buried deep inside sometimes. I mean, if I'm going to be real, I should tell you that there are some other people I love a lot, too." Spinning to face the entire room, Junko spread her arms wide and announced, "It's _you,_ my classmates!" She rocked back and forth eagerly as she said, "I know I tease you all a lot, but I haven't had a family for years now... " She looked down and quietly claimed, "You guys are like, the next closest thing."

Chihiro Fujisaki clapped his hands together and began to tear up. "Th-that's... that's incredibly sweet of you, Enoshima-san!"

"I agree," Makoto told her, beaming.

"Extremely kind, Enoshima-san," Sakura followed. "And I believe most of us would agree with that same sentiment."

Junko soaked in the praise for a bit before turning her attention to Kyoko. "Well, detective girl?" she pressed. "Are you okay to go next?"

Kyoko had her hand to her chin when Junko asked. From there she paused and looked around the room slowly. "I am," Kyoko finally confirmed." With just the hint of a smile, she told the group, "My situation is surprisingly similar to Enoshima-san's," she told everyone. "There's just one person left on the outside of this school that I'm concerned about - my grandfather, who raised me and taught me how to become a true Kirigiri detective. He means very much to me, but in truth, I'm not that worried about him. I know he can handle himself."

"So... how's that similar to Enoshima-san?" Hina asked from her own table.

Kyoko pivoted towards Hina. "Because just like her, most of the people I care about are going to be safely locked within these walls."

"You mean like your father?" Makoto asked.

Kyoko rotated her head before spinning her body to face Makoto completely. Part of her wanted to explain everything right there — to tell him exactly who she was thinking of when she mentioned 'people.' _It's you,_ she thought. _Who made me start to come out of my shell when I first arrived. Who I've gotten to befriend and know so well over the past year. The one who brings down my walls and makes me feel like it's safe for me to open up again. You blind idiot..._ of course _I mean you._

Instead, she just told him — and the others, too, but she mostly seemed to be speaking directly to Makoto — "Yes, that's one example." She hesitated a second before adding, "Along with my wonderful classmates and friends, of course."

* * *

 **Welcome to day 3 of Naegiri Week 2017. Today's prompt was/is "Safe." Thanks for reading yet another one of my things!**


	25. An Enticing Offer

Kyoko was doing the dishes in their shared living quarters when Makoto walked in to join her. He still had his cell phone in his hand from the phone call that had interrupted his own chores a few minutes ago. He paused as he passed Kyoko, putting both hands on her hips — actually, one hand and one cell phone on her hips — and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before he stepped to her opposite side. She smiled at the gesture before diving right into what she really wanted to know. Turning her head towards him, Kyoko asked, "How are things with our favorite band of fugitives?"

"Pretty good," Makoto told her as he leaned against the counter. "They managed to get a few days of sanctuary by hunkering down in what's left of Novoselic — well, it was _officially j_ ust sanctuary for the princess, but the others sneaked along as her entourage while she got most of the attention from the crowds."

"I see... good for them?" Kyoko said uncertainly. "At least they aren't having to look over their shoulders as much for a while." Returning her attention to the kitchen sink, she set to scrubbing the inside of a steel pot as her next task.

"That's not all," Makoto told her. "Nevermind-san has obtained quite a few crates of her country's famous chocolate."

Kyoko stopped scrubbing and closed her eyes. She tried to focus on the last time she'd tasted Novoselic's chocolate, but the lemon scent of the dish soap was overpowering her sensory memory. All the same, she recalled very clearly that it was phenomenal — sweet and a little salty, only faintly bitter. With a sigh, she opened her eyes and said, "Lucky for them."

Makoto smiled knowingly at his fiancée. "Had some of it before?" he guessed.

She looked at him, her eyes burning with intensity. "Oh yes," she confirmed. "A couple of times. _Unforgettable_ times."

Makoto laughed softly. "Yeah, with that in mind," he said, "You should know that her highness has an offer for us."

Kyoko held her breath for a few seconds without realizing it. She felt foolish when she caught herself, but she managed to keep her fleeting shame buried inside. To the eyes of her fiancé, she only seemed momentarily lost in thought before asking, "Oh?"

He took her previous pause as a cue that he, too, could wait a moment before clarifying. The extra time allowed him to consider the best way to explain the princess' proposal. "Essentially, Princess Sonia Nevermind of Novoselic would like an invitation to our wedding. She knows that the world has taken an interest in it, and she's hoping to make an appearance. She wants a platform to present herself and maybe even a guest as reformed, well-meaning former Remnants. In exchange, she'd be willing to give us a significant amount of her small country's remaining stockpile of chocolate."

Kyoko's eyes widened slightly. In a hushed tone, she dared to ask, "How much?"

Makoto smiled and licked his lips a little. "Um. 12 kilograms." At this, Kyoko's jaw fell open. Before she could get completely lost in thoughts of Novoselic chocolate swirling in her morning coffee, however, Makoto took a step back and raised both of his hands. "Now _remember_ ," he warned her, "Sonia Nevermind is a _wanted international fugitive_ -"

"-who used her country's resources to commit acts of terrorism across the globe. _Yes_ , I know," Kyoko said quickly, waving one hand dismissively. She snatched a dish towel from the edge of the sink and began to wipe the suds from her scarred hands. "Even so, she might not have a terrible idea here."

"How do you figure?" Makoto said. He was suppressing his desire to laugh, but the grimace on his face made that patently obvious.

"She could serve as a helpful distraction," Kyoko suggested. "We didn't want to be at the center of a media circus anyway."

Makoto giggled. "Yeah, I'm sure having some of the Remnants of Despair show up would be a _huge_ distraction," he agreed sarcastically. "Especially when they're revealed to be our invited guests!"

Kyoko set her jaw. "Fair point," she conceded. "In that case, why not have her Impostor friend come as her Plus-One? Then he can use his talent of disguise to dress her in an incognito fashion, perhaps even teach her to fade into the crowd before the event arrives. They can attend the wedding in secret."

Makoto gave her a sympathetic look. "You know that the Ultimate Impostor's talent extends to his voice, body language, posture and... well, even more. I don't know that he could effectively transfer all of that into another person so easily, even with a few months to do so." He reached out and put a hand on Kyoko's shoulder. "I also think you know how bad it would be if anyone managed to identify the princess." Makoto took a deep breath and added, "Sweetie... I think you're letting your love of chocolate influence your better judgment."

Kyoko folded her arms and glared at him. "You've never even _had_ Novoselic chocolate," she responded, her voice grim. "If you had, you wouldn't be so glib about refusing the offer."

He smiled one of his goofy, sheepish smiles. "Maybe not," he acknowledged. "But is it really worth risking our future over it?"

Kyoko's eyes flitted sideways. Her shoulders slumped a little. "She muttered softly, "I suppose it might _not_ be."

Even in the face of her disappointment, Makoto couldn't but break into disbelieving laughter. He bent over and tried to cease the laughter, but struggled to do so. "You're like... you're like an addict or something?... so desperate for a fix!" he said in-between breaths.

She smiled just a little at the sight of how much he was enjoying this. Maybe it was partly out of guilt that he wasn't _wrong_ , but it was mostly because he was so cute when he laughing. "I'm not actually _addicted_ ," she insisted through her smile. "I just recognize quality, and I value it accordingly."

Makoto's laughs trailed off into chuckles. He raised a hand to his cheek in thought, scratching at it idly as he spoke. "Okay, how about this: We can compromise. I'll ask Nevermind-san if we can have maybe four kilograms or so in exchange for telling the media that the gift came from her _and_ assuring them that the present was fully tested for any dangers. Then we tell everybody it was legitimate and delicious, and she gets a smaller PR boost without us having to actually acknowledge her as a friend."

Kyoko's arms unfolded, and her hands fell to her hips. She looked around the room with only her eyes, then finally let herself focus on the man in front of her. With a subtle smile, she agreed, "I suppose that could work out."

"I'm happy you agree," Makoto said, still bearing a huge grin. "I'll call her back in a little while and try to cut a deal."

Suddenly, one of Kyoko's hands darted out. She grabbed Makoto by the shoulder and said seriously, "Makoto?"

"Yeah?" Makoto asked, suddenly worried.

Her eyes narrowed. " _Six_ kilograms."

* * *

 **It's still Naegiri Week 2017. Day four's prompt was "Sweet."**


	26. Misdirected

It was a cold winter day, and Makoto Naegi was traveling between buildings during his lunch hour at the new Hope's Peak Academy. Most of the student body and staff seemed to be indoors — either because they had classes or just so as to avoid the cold temperatures and snow-covered pathways. The actual snowfall had stopped, but they didn't exactly employ a huge grounds crew, so With the walking paths unusually empty, the sight of someone seated on one of the benches near the central plaza caught his eye. As he approached, he wondered if the pale shade of the hair was because they had rubbed their head with snow or it was the bearer's natural hair color. When he was about 10 meters away, he recognized the single braid hanging down one side of the individual's head. It was clearly Kyoko Kirigiri.

Upon that realization, he froze in place. _Why would she be sitting out here in the cold by herself?_ he wondered. _Maybe she's just admiring the snow._

 _Doesn't matter why,_ Makoto decided. Remembering his moment of confusion when he imagined that the person on the bench just had snow on their head, he realized, _This is perfect_. He turned and jumped off of the sidewalk, diving behind the green lustre holly bush to his left. After the initially awkward _crunch_ of his drop into the snow, he quickly began to ball some of the snow up with his mitten-covered hands. Once he had firmed the snow up, he stepped out from the bush and identified the ideal path through which to sneak up on her.

 _If I cut diagonally through the grass, I can get directly behind her,_ he determined. He stepped off the path and began maneuvering across the yard, but each step was sinking into 11 centimeters of snow _._ As a result, every footfall came accompanied with an audible _krensh_. Makoto tried to walk more slowly, but that just made the crunches in the snow seem more drawn-out. After five steps, he was finally lined up direclty behind her but still a solid five meters away. As he pivoted to face the back of her head, one of his shoes made a strange squeak that sounded like _skweersk_. Makoto audibly grunted "Erk!" in surprise.

"I can hear you, you know," Kyoko called out. Even so, she didn't turn around. "If you were hoping to sneak up on me," she added, "You're failing spectacularly."

Makoto held his breath. For a second, he considered giving up. _She may know I'm here_ , he decided, _but she doesn't know what's coming_. So at that moment, he decided to stop his advance and just go for it. Leaning back, he wound up the snowball in his right hand and threw it forward.

Even he was astonished when he hit his mark _exactly,_ the ball landing on top of her head and exploding into powder. Her shoulders scrunched up in surprise. Makoto was so stunned at first that he didn't even know to react for a couple of seconds. Ultimately, however, he silently thrust two hands into the air in triumph.

Unfortunately, that triumph was short-lived. When he saw Kyoko stand up and turn around to look at him, the fury in her eyes immediately told him that fun time was over. "Makoto Naegi," she announced. She was speaking in such an unusual volume that he almost thought they had an audience gathering. "What on _Earth_ possessed you to do this to me?" she demanded.

 _Oh no oh god I pissed her off_ , he thought. Verbally, however, he responded with "I was — it — aaahhhh... fun?" His eyes darted around nervously, as if he was seeking some kind of rescue. "Wh-what are you out here for, anyway?" he asked, attempting to change the subject.

"I was enjoying the scenery and reading," Kyoko told him. She then helped up a book, letting it hang open, which looked darkened on the inside. "Emphasis on _was_. Thanks for soaking it."

Makoto's face went ashen. "Oh my god I am _so sorry_ , Kyoko!" he said earnestly. He jogged towards her through the snow, awkwardly lumbering and nearly tripping more than once. As he did so, Kyoko dropped her book atop the seat of the bench and stepped around it, moving off of the concrete paths covered with snow and into the ankle-deep snow of the grassy area behind it.

Makoto ran right up to her, looking red in the face. She stood still with her hands on her hips and a disapproving scowl on her face as he continued, "Seriously, I was just trying to play around! I didn't know it'd upset you or that you were reading a book and none of that actually matters anyway because it was a dick move _regardless_ -" Kyoko reached out put both her hands on his shoulders, which seemed to cut off the verbal stream he was outputting.

"Makoto," she said flatly, her face still grim.

"Yeah?" he asked nervously.

She smirked.

And then she stepped forward and to the right, kicking out with her left leg and pulling him towards her and down. Sweeping his legs out from under him, she shoved him face-first into the snow. The combination of his shoes sliding out from under him and the impact of his torso followed by his leg and legs resulted in a _swee-umf-plek_ noise.

"Mmf!" Makoto mumbled. He pushed himself out of the snow and onto all fours, where he coughed and spat snow out of his mouth, then shook his head like a dog to get as much of the moisture off as he could. "What-" he started. He paused and inhaled against before another attempting: "What was _tha-_ "

This time he was cut off by being flipped onto his back. Kyoko sat down across his midsection, straddling him while simultaneously using her gloved hands to pin his arms on either side of his head. With a tight smile, Kyoko advised him, "You fell for my trick." She then glanced sideways and added, "That... wasn't supposed to be a pun."

Makoto was still panting from the shock and adrenaline. "You... you weren't really... "

"Mad?" Kyoko finished for him? "Not so much, no. I pretty much knew what you were doing as soon as I heard you coming up from behind. The book will be fine, by the way. I can just air it out under the kotatsu."

At last, Makoto laughed and shook his head. "I should've known!" he yelped between laughs. "Never trust the girl with the ultimate poker face," he said, grinning.

"I believe what you _meant_ to say was, 'I concede that Kyoko Kirigiri is the superior combatant,'" Kyoko told him with a smile on her face.

"I mean, I _could_ say that," Makoto accepted, looking away from her face. "But I'm a little bit embarrassed to do it so publicly. Can't you lean closer to my face, so I don't have to shout?"

Kyoko giggled. "This ploy is even _more_ obvious than your sneak attack," she told him with a delighted glint in her eyes. "No one is even around to begin with. But you know what? I'm feeling charitable, so I'll agree to your demands." Kyoko leaned over on top of him and kissed him gently on the lips. Her face felt pleasantly warm against the wet snow that was still dripping off of his own.

As she pulled away from him, he opened his eyes and looked into the light purple shade of her own. With a smile, he robotically stated, "I concede that Kyoko Kirigiri is the superior kisser."

"That wasn't the deal," Kyoko warned him with a smile.

Makoto's brow furrowed. "It wasn't?" he asked, pretending to be confused. "I could've _sworn_ you told me to-"

"It's the wrong concession!" she said adamantly, albeit in a quiet tone. After all, their faces were still only inches apart.

"It's accurate," he pointed out.

"It's not even," she disagreed. "My _requested_ concession was accurate."

"But maybe they _both_ are?"

"Pfft. Stop it."


	27. Nomenclature

"I don't think you should cast it aside so nonchalantly."

Makoto looked up from the carrots he was slicing up at the counter and gave Kyoko a look of utter befuddlement. "Did I miss something?" he asked. "What are we talking about?"

Kyoko, who seated at the kitchen table, realized what she'd done and half-smiled. "Ah, I apologize," she told him. "I guess I did it again. The habit where I continue a conversation we had hours earlier as though no time had passed just because I was sitting here thinking about it?"

"I do that a _lot_ more than you," Makoto noted, grinning at her lovingly. "Anyway - which conversation?"

"The one about your name," she answered seriously.

"Oh," Makoto said. Earlier that morning, he'd told her that he never expected her to take on his family name once they were married. Instead, he'd suggested the opposite: That he was interested in taking _her_ family's name, assuming that she approved. By Makoto's reckoning, the Naegi name didn't mean nearly so much as the Kirigiri one.

"Please understand: It's not that I don't think you deserve the Kirigiri surname," she explained. "You're more than worthy of my family's legacy. Your intelligence and observational skills have been invaluable to investigations numerous times."

Makoto had put the knife down now. "Are you sure you're not just saying that to be nice?"

"I'm _positive_ ," Kyoko said back with determination. "Ultimately, the decision is yours, and I'll support your choice regardless of what it is. But even if your family name doesn't hold much meaning to you, it does to a lot of people. Even me."

Makoto blinked a couple of times at that statement and grimaced in surprise. "What do you mean?" he asked.

She looked at him with admiration. "It's the name of the 'Ultimate Hope' that inspired so much of the world by resisting despair when everyone else around him was ready to give in. It's the name of the man who used his wits and determination to defeat the creator of the biggest Tragedy in human history. The name of the man who inspired _me_ to keep on fighting, even the my darkest moments." She leaned over in her seat, propping her elbows on the table. Her demeanor grew more serious as she steepled her gloved fingers. "It's _also_ the name of a girl who was presented with an easy way out of a living nightmare — which was then instead turned into a way to get revenge on those who had hurt her and put her through something incomprehensible to the average person. Instead of taking either way out, she chose a harder path of peace and compromise. You, and then your sister once her story got out — you became inspirations to this world. You have a value all your own, and it's far greater than you've ever given it credit."

Makoto had his hand on his chin and his eyes pointed downward as he mulled her words over. A few moments passed. "Be that as it may, I can't live my life entirely according to what other people see in me," he countered. "I need to make the choices that feel right for _me_ , not for the people who don't really know me." His eyes raised to meet hers, and he added, "Ultimately, a name is just a name. It's not like it will change who I am or what I've done."

"All of that makes sense," Kyoko said with a deep breath. "But the truth is... part of me is worried that this is about more than ignoring public perceptions and embracing my family's history. Part of me thinks this might _also_ be an attempt to put the loss of your parents behind you."

Makoto frowned instantly. "Even if that were true, is that a bad thing?"

"It's an... intense thing," she replied while avoiding his eyes. "If that were the truth, it'd be a pretty extreme step to take. But even if this _isn't_ just an attempt to move past the pain of their deaths, it could be perceived as such. Some people might even assume this gesture is a _rejection_ of your parents."

Makoto shook his head. "Then I'll correct them!" he shot back.

Kyoko tilted her head slightly, her expression both loving and pitying. "Don't you think it kind of... discounts all that they did for you and Komaru? In effect, you're erasing the legacy they left in you, and the legacy of _their_ parents before them."

"A legacy is more than a name," Makoto said, smiling sadly. "They're a part of me and Komaru no matter what."

Smiling back, she told him, "And _you_ are a true Kirigiri no matter what, too. You don't need the name for that to be the case."

"Well, you're a Naegi no matter what, too," Makoto told her affectionately.

She blushed a little bit at that. "Thanks. But... either way, I guess I just wanted to remind you that your name has value. And if 'a name is just a name,' as you say, then why change it?"

He shrugged. "Why _not_? Same logic applies!" he teased. "Besides," he said, growing more serious, "I know you don't agree with that statement. You know _your_ name has value."

"I guess that's true," Kyoko agreed with a sigh. "I _do_ value the Kirigiri name and legacy. But I'm telling you that your name has value as well, and it means just as much to me as my own." With maybe a hint of guilt, she averted her eyes and admitted, "I guess maybe _I've_ grown more attached to 'Naegi' than even you have."

It was Makoto's turn to blush a bit. Looking back towards the carrots, he said, "Thank you... really. Not just for feeling attached to the details that make me _me_ , but... thanks for everything you've said."

Kyoko bit her lower lip pensively. "So you'll think about it?" she asked. "There's no rush."

Looking back at her, he smiled warmly once more. "I will," he agreed. "I am, actually."

* * *

 **It's day 6 of Naegiri Week, and today's prompt was "Away."**

 **I've seen different friends and/or authors give Naegi the Kirigiri name, keep their names distinct, or even give Kyoko the Naegi name in one rare instance. I wanted this fic to speak to that, but it doesn't really provide any easy answers. Honestly, I think this one turned out kind of boring... hopefully tomorrow will prove better. :)**


	28. Ever More Complete

Makoto stepped through the door of Kyoko Kirigiri's room carefully, shutting the door quietly behind him. Sitting up in her hospital bed, Kyoko looked up at him and smiled in a way he'd never seen before: It was exhausted, affectionate, proud, and above all, utterly content.

"How's the mood out there?" Kyoko asked him. The bundle of blanket and warmth in her arms wiggled a bit at the sound of her voice.

Makoto grinned back. "Uh, _celebratory_ — just as it should be," he said. "They're all dying to meet her. Komaru is anxious to use her first visit dibs, but I convinced her to give us a few minutes before she starts the welcome parade."

As he stepped towards the bed, the face of his newborn daughter came into view. He felt his heart skip a beat. "I still can't believe we did this," he said softly, shaking his head in astonishment.

Kyoko's smile grew even more radiant. With one arm tucked around the swaddled baby, she reached out the other towards Makoto. He took his hand in hers and lifted it to his mouth, kissing her scars as he knelt down next to the hospital bed. There, he was able to enjoy a closer look at their new arrival.a

It was too soon for her to open her eyes, but the baby at least reacted to sounds. In a sweet whisper, Makoto said, "Hello again. It's me." He felt himself start to choke up, but he managed to say, "It's your daddy." The little girl kicked one leg and seemed to flap an arm as a greeting.

Kyoko fought back tears of her own as she bit her lower lip. When she tried to speak, she could only say, "She's... perfect."

"Of course she is," Makoto said, turning his attention to his wife. "She came from _you._ "

" _Us_ ," Kyoko corrected him in a whisper while simultaneously squeezing his hand within hers.

Makoto reached out with the forefinger of his free hand and touched the baby's cheek, stroking it softly. Her mouth opened a little, and she pursed her lips right after. "She's so soft," Makoto said, sounding amazed.

"Well, people call it 'baby-soft skin' for a reason," Kyoko advised him. He looked up at her teasing expression, and the two shared a giggle.

Makoto stood up a little bit and kissed his wife's cheek, the moved to kiss her her lips lovingly. As their mouths parted, Kyoko tightened her grip on his hand a little, which signaled him to stay close. When she spoke, her voice was quiet. "There was a time in my life when I thought I might not be capable of opening up again," she started to tell him. "And when I fell in love with you... I was so grateful. Not only for you to come into my life, but because you showed me it was possible for me to give this much of myself to someone." Looking down at their baby, she went on: "And now... even though I thought I'd never love anyone as much as I love you... I look at this incredibly small person, and I want to do anything and everything to make her happy. It's the same way I feel about you. I... I didn't know I had this much in me to feel. This much to... give."

Makoto leaned the side of his forehead against the side of Kyoko's so he could enjoy the sensation of their skin touching as they looked down at the girl in the blanket. Barely speaking above a whisper, he said, "Somehow, it feels like we're more _complete_ now, you know?" He laughed lightly at how silly it sounded but kept going anyway. "It feels like... this is what we're meant to be."

"Parents?" she asked, sounding a little skeptical. "To be honest, I never thought I would become one. Not in a traditional sense, at any rate."

He turned and looked at her. She turned and looked back at him.

"Not just that," Makoto said. "It feels like we were meant to be a _family_."

"We were _already_ a family," Kyoko said back. Tears began to well in her eyes. Her voice shrank to a whisper. "It's just a little bit bigger now."

Makoto nodded once in agreement, beaming at his wife as he did so. "Good thing we've got love to spare."

* * *

 **It's Day Seven of Naegiri Week 2017. It's also Christmas Eve. Today's prompt was "Soft," for the record.**

 **Thanks for joining me on this crazy journey. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it, and please let me know if you did. :) I can't believe I wrote something for all seven days! Between this and my day job, I actually wound up hurting my hands and shoulders from all the typing. Good thing we have a holiday to relax with, eh?**

 **From me to everyone reading this: Happy holidays. Whatever you're celebrating, I hope it brings you the joy you deserve.**


	29. Jealousy

Aoi Asahina had been on a video call with Kyoko Kirigiri for over an hour. The call started at 9:32 at night, and it was now 10:36 p.m.

In the course of those 57 minutes, Kyoko had detailed most of the Fourteenth Branch's current initiatives. She'd provided brief updates on how Byakuya Togami and Yasuhiro Hagakure were doing. She'd circled back to the topic of the Ultimate Elite Task Force — a special assault team made up of former Hope's Peak students — multiple times, calmly complaining about having to board them for the past two weeks while taking them to various hot spots. The task force would go in to eliminate threats, and the Fourteenth Branch was expected to perform cleanup with a smile and a positive message for the public.

Hina had also gotten a chance to talk about what she was doing at the Thirteenth Branch lately... but Hina wasn't the one who initiated the call. And it was unusual for Kyoko to pick up the phone first. The fact that she did so immediately made Hina concerned.

Let it never be said that Aoi Asahina hadn't learned anything from all the time she'd spent with Kyoko Kirigiri. Using some of the observational skills she'd gleaned from her friend, Hina had identified two possible drivers behind Kyoko's call by the time they'd reached the 64-minute mark of their conversation. Those two drivers were: A) the one topic Kyoko had repeatedly veered back to, and B) the most obvious topic that she'd not brought up at all.

"What are these 'elite task force' people like, anyway?" Hina asked her friend. "What makes them so annoying, I mean?" There was a long pause as Kyoko closed her eyes in thought. Hina bit her lower lip, well aware that Kyoko was about to say something important.

After a deep sigh and a slow exhale, Kyoko finally spoke up. "Her name is Yoko Watanabe."

* * *

Makoto Naegi's personal quarters on the ship belonging to the Fourteenth branch was awash in a warm yellow light provided by a couple of pole lamps placed diagonally across from one another. One of them was next to his bed, which Makoto typically found to be the perfect place to read his manga.

At the moment, though, he was on his knees in front of the bookshelf down by the foot of his bed, searching for a particular series. He was wearing his button-down shirt and slacks that the Future Foundation issued, but the jacket and tie were thrown over a nearby desk chair. His bed was occupied by Yoko Watanabe, who was lying on her stomach with her feet in the air and her head resting in her left hand. Her right hand was playing with the side-ponytail she sported in her gray-blonde hair, and her peach-colored eyes were watching the ahoge atop Makoto's head with amusement.

"I can't believe you've never read it," Makoto said, shaking his head as he examined the spines of his books intently.

Yoko shrugged, flashing a muted smile towards the bobbing bit of hair she was eyeing. "Didn't read a ton of manga as a kid," she offered in her husky voice. "Kinda busy 'honing my craft,' if you get me." She pushed off of the bed and swung her legs around, sitting up on her haunches. "Actually _did_ read some of _Sukeban Deka_ , though!" she said with a smile.

Makoto looked up at her with a lopsided smile. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me," he teased. "I bet Saki was like, the role model for your life or something."

Still kneeling, Yoko put her hands on her hips and raised her head up in pride. "Not many people can say they became a real-life yo-yo cop," she said in a mock-boastful tone. She shrank back, suddenly embarrassed of her performance, and looked away as she muttered, "Wasn't aiming to do that, mind you, but can't complain... "

He couldn't help but grin at her as she blushed shyly. "That sounds like plenty of reason to be proud to me," Makoto assured her, tossing her a sideways look. "Were you 'aiming' to attend Hope's Peak, though?"

Yoko's eyes shifted upwards as she thought on that. "Mmm... eventually," she said. "Not as a little girl or anything, though. Didn't even know I could shoot for being an 'Ultimate Yo-yoer' 'til middle school."

"A- _ha_!" Makoto cried triumphantly. He pulled three volumes out of his shelf in a single pull, producing a small stack of books. "I want you to borrow, like, the first three volumes." He paused for a second, then put one of them back on the shelf. "Maybe _three_ is a little intense. Better stick to two," he muttered. He flipped open the first volume, and turned a few pages, smiling at the image of a spiky-haired boy in a headband. " _Chousoku Spinner_ is the _definitive_ yo-yo manga!" Makoto declared, beaming at the page.

At the sound of Yoko's throat clearing, Makoto looked up to find that Yoko was making her red yo-yo appear to jump rope — slinging and a loose string around one another in one direction, then making both reverse and slip into a pattern in the opposite direction. "It's a Yuuki Slack," she informed him of the trick. With a flashy grin, she added, "See? Didn't need to read _Chousoku Spinner_ — lived it instead!"

She laughed at her own cheekiness, as did Makoto while he stood up. "Heh, I see your point!" he acknowledged. "But, although you maybe a little old for it now — will you give it a try anyway?" He extended the books in his hand towards her.

Yoko stopped fiddling with her yo-yo and let it drop to the mattress below. Looking up at him, she locked her eyes with his. "For you?" she said quietly, "Damn right I will."

* * *

" _Arrrgh!_ " Hina growled. She had both hands on the collar of her Future Foundation jacket and was popping it up as she gritted her teeth. "That little-! She must've like... seduced Naegi with some kind of... _yo-yo hypnotism_!"

Kyoko smiled. "Thank you for your fury on my behalf, but in truth, I'm not angry at Watanabe-san," she said, waving one hand dismissively. "She's a perfectly friendly young woman. She was part of Hope's Peak's 75th graduating class, and I suspect she developed something of a crush on Naegi-kun during the broadcast of our incarceration. It's perfectly understandable."

"But _still_! She's flaunting Naegi around right in front of you?!" Hina demanded, still sounding offended on Kyoko's behalf.

"I think you misunderstood me," Kyoko replied. "I don't have any solid evidence that they're an established romantic couple."

Hina's eyes and nose scrunched up. " _Huh_?! But from what you just said-"

Kyoko interrupted her to explain: "I've studied enough body language to know when two people are in a relationship, when they're in love, or when someone is consumed by infatuation for another. They're giving off all the right signals; I just don't have any verbal confirmation." Kyoko's eyes drifted downwards. "It's not wise to make assumptions, regardless of evidence. And honestly, even if they _are_ a couple, I have no right to complain." She averted her gaze, looking away from the video screen. "It's not like I made any overtures towards him."

Hina frowned in concern. "Kyoko... don't do that, " she pleaded, her voice tinged with affection. "This isn't your fault."

Kyoko shook her head rapidly, placing her right gloved hand upon her forehead. "I'm not saying it's someone's _fault_ ," she stated. "I'm just deeply disappointed in myself," she admitted, looking ashamed. "Not because things turned out this way... or _are_ turning out this way... but because I'm acting like a child about it." Her hand slid down her face, finally covering her mouth. "When the thought of pursuing a relationship with him would cross my mind or when you would raise the possibility to me, I always thought it a misguided hope. I overanalyzed things — deciding that I shouldn't risk our current bond, or that it wasn't the right time, or that it would be inappropriate given our positions within the Foundation — and returned my focus to my work. I have no right to feel like Naegi-kun was... somehow... " she mumbled, trailing off.

Hina's brow furrowed on the monitor. "...yours?" she finished for her friend.

Kyoko's eyes narrowed, small wrinkles appearing at their sides. She looked away from the screen once more, saying nothing in response.

Hina's own eyes cast downward. "I suppose I felt that way, too," she admitted. "I mean, I did think you guys somehow... " Hina cut herself off, her large blue eyes looking up wistfully. "You work so great together, and you act so... inseparable," she said. Looking back at Kyoko, she went on, "I guess that's why I always pushed you about it," she accepted. "It seemed natural, y'know? But it's not like it ever _had_ to become a real thing. In the end, all I really wanted was for you two to be happy... whatever that means."

Kyoko lowered the hand from her mouth and leaned forward, propping her elbow up on the desk. She rested her chin atop the hand and smiled once more. "Well, I certainly hope Watanabe-san gives him that," she said softly. Hina almost thought she could see a glisten in the corners of Kyoko's eyes. "In the end, he deserves whatever joy he gets. And he surely deserves someone who wouldn't be weighed down by personal doubts. Someone who won't hesitate to do everything in their power to give it to him." She nodded to herself. "Yes," she said firmly.

"Y'know, it's not like this girl is his _wife_ or something," Hina said cheerfully. "She's just one more obstacle! I mean, maybe _now_ is the time!" She raised both fists in front of her face in in determination. "You don't even know for sure if they're together yet, so if you're finally ready to deal with your own feelings, don't wait any longer! Just tell him already!"

Kyoko struggled to keep her eyes from rolling into the back of her head. "And then I get to look utterly selfish — the definitive example of mimetic desire. Naegi-kun winds up trapped in the middle of his old friend and his new lover, and-"

" _Ew_ ," Hina said reflexively.

"AND," Kyoko continued with increasing volume, "By virtue of such an action, my feelings would become forever suspect. Anyone could rightly question whether my feelings were genuine, imitative, or merely fueled by jealousy." As she finished that sentence, Kyoko scowled. " _No_ , thank you," she said in conclusion.

Hina pursed her lips. "Isn't this just you 'overanalyzing' again?" she grumbled.

The remark actually gave Kyoko pause. She raised a finger to her lips in thought. "Possibly... " she admitted, under her breath. Letting out a huff of air, Kyoko let her eyelids droop to half-closed. She mumbled something to herself.

"What?" Hina asked "What was that?"

"I said 'I'm not any good at this,'" Kyoko repeated, looking sullen. "It's a bit ironic — in the modern sense of the word. Consider all that time I've spent learning to read body language signals and meaningful terms or phrases that can give away the feelings of others. I can clearly read when two people are romantically or _desire_ to be involved, regardless of whether they're right beside one or another or standing on opposite ends of a room. But when it comes time for me to understand my own desires and feelings, I remain a rank amateur. I can't even tell if the other party is interested in _me,_ let alone feel certain about my own actions."

"That just means you're more normal than you realized," Hina said sympathetically. With a concerned expression, Hina told her, "Just don't wait too long, okay? It's still super dangerous out in this messed-up world... I don't want you to... " She gave a shake of her head, trailing off with a "Y'know."

Kyoko stared at her friend silently for a long moment. At last, Kyoko said, "I'm sorry."

On the other side of the screen, Hina's face tightened up in confusion once more. "For what?" she asked.

"For acting so thoughtlessly towards you," Kyoko stated. "I've been so wrapped up in my selfish emotions that I failed to appreciate how I must sound to someone who's... " Kyoko's eyes moved around the room as she sought the proper words. "Someone who's suffered a much more permanent loss in a similar vein."

Hina reached up and rubbed the side of her head with her right hand. "I... I didn't mean to be talking about _that_ ," she insisted awkwardly. She barely managed to get one half of her mouth to curl into a phony smile. "You wanna talk about having 'no right to complain'? I didn't understand what I was feeling back then. I wasn't even _capable_ of telling her."

"I don't think that diminishes the loss you experienced," Kyoko told her. "If anything, I think that would make it worse."

Asahina's face appeared to grow flush, and her eyes appeared glassy on the screen. She looked away at an angle, sounding hoarse when she said, "It's still kinda hard to talk about it. Just promise you won't be like me, all right?"

"Unfortunately, I don't think I'm capable of being like you," Kyoko said, granting her friend a kind smile.

"You know what I mean," Hina groaned, cracking a smile right back in spite of the lump in her throat. "I just mean that I don't want you to, like, avoid dealing with this stuff until it's too late."

Kyoko folded her arms, looking serious once more. "I understand what you're trying to say," she assured her friend. "But 'too late' doesn't just come in one form. That's why there's no way to be certain whether it's ahead of you or behind you."

* * *

Makoto Naegi and Yoko Watanabe stepped out from the elevator and onto the fourth deck up from the hold. The hallway was white and nicely lit by circular lamps along the walls, adding a bit of ambience as they strolled. Makoto had put his Future Foundation coat and tie back on now that he was once again visible to the rest of the branch, but no one was around to see the pair anyway.

"So that makes it nearly two weeks now," Makoto said, continuing the conversation they'd begun within. "And Kirigiri-san has barely said a word to me outside of an official branch meeting."

Yoko looked lost in thought. "Two weeks, huh?" she repeated, sounding absent-minded.

Makoto hummed a muted "Mmm-hmm." Dejectedly, he continued, "It all started when she cancelled our usual breakfast together one morning. It happened again, then again, and then, suddenly, she couldn't have breakfast with me at all anymore. I tried to push to lunch, but she said things were still too busy for 'socializing.' And of course, I believed her. Or at least... I believed her at _first._ "

He looked over to Yoko to find that she was looking directly over at him in return, listening intently. He gave her a quick, grateful smile before he continued: "The thing is, for most of the past week, we've been stuck at sea. I seriously doubt she has enough paperwork and bureaucracy to keep her completely booked for all that time without any landfall events to report." He set his jaw and looked down the hall towards nothing in particular, albeit with a clear sense of determination. "No. Something's wrong with her, and she's not the type to talk until she's ready. I just have to decide if I'm going to wait her out, or try to find out what it is."

Yoko smiled back at him gently. "Branch leaders have been in-fighting a lot," she noted. "Maybe spending her time trying to play peacemaker."

"I suppose," Makoto said doubtfully. "But if that's all it was, she would've told me."

Yoko reached over and grabbed Makoto's hand as she walked, causing him to blush at her slightly. "Kirigiri-san is really important to you, isn't she?" she asked.

"Of course," he told her with a smile. "Kiri is more than just a mentor to me... she's my best friend. Probably the closest friend I've ever had." Looking back up and into the distance of the corridor, he shook his head. "No, not 'probably.' _Definitely._ The people I knew in middle school or earlier were all casual friends. Those of us who survived that hell at Hope's Peak? We have a unique bond. And Kirigiri-san and I were tighter with each other than any of the other survivors were."

Yoko held her breath for a moment, squeezing Makoto's hand before asking, "Did you guys ever... ah, consider dating?"

Makoto stopped in his tracks and looked over at her. When Yoko felt his hand slip away, she realized he'd stopped moving and was now behind her. Naturally, she paused too, then stepped back and looked him squarely in the eyes.

His head sagged a bit as he looked down, avoiding Yoko's eyes. "Okay, you're right. I'm not going to deny it. It definitely was something on my mind for awhile after we got out of Hope's Peak. It seemed like we had... " Makoto stopped and raised his head, looking to the side. "I used to believe we had some, um, additional potential," he said.

" _Additional potential,'_ " Yoko repeated under her breath sourly, attempting to fight back a frown.

Makoto turned his head back to her and met her gaze, his expression serious. "Of course I will always treasure the friendship I have with her, but I no longer idealize her. I understand that we're good friends and could never be anything else. We're like... a square peg and a round hole."

She seemed to consider this for a bit. "She _is_ a lot more emotionally withdrawn than you are," she noted, sounding mildly encouraged.

"Exactly," Makoto agreed. "Kirigiri-san is an amazing person. But like, as a couple _?_ We'd be... incompatible."

Yoko rubbed her cheek, pondering this. "But did you ever actually make a move on her?" she finally inquired.

Makoto blanched at that. "Do what now?"

"My experience: Guys don't easily get over things they never actually went after," she mused. She let herself smile at him a little after that. A wry, sad smile. "So: Anything left unsaid?"

He thought for a moment, then spoke carefully: "I... made it clear what I wanted... quite a while back. What I _thought_ I wanted, at any rate."

Yoko squinted slightly. "She... she rejected you?" she asked, uncertain.

"Come _on_ ," he said, looking at his feet. "You sound like you think that's somehow a weird reaction." He grinned at her and shook his head. "I promise you: She's far from the first." She didn't seem to hear him, or maybe she just wasn't focused on the exact words. Instead, Yoko appeared to look past him as she bit into the thumbnail on her right hand. Pushing off the wall behind him, Makoto stepped forward. "Bottom line? I considered it, yes. I was interested, and she wasn't," he said with a half-shrug. "Even so, she's an important part of my life."

Yoko gave a small bob of her head as acknowledgement. She pulled her hand away from her mouth. "I get that," she said back. With a tilt of her head, she explained, "Consider the background noise of my life, though, would ya? Tabloids are always speculating on the love lives of you, Kirigiri-san, and all of your fellow survivors."

Makoto sighed. "I know... " he said softly, sounding exasperated. "There's always some dumb speculation that we're dating each other or hooking up or having wild parties on the ship or god-knows-what. Most of us have learned to ignore the speculation and the 'shippers', although I'm pretty sure Fukawa-san still pays attention."

"Ugh. Poor girl," Yoko said with a laugh. Then, she took another step towards him. Given the lack of space in the hallway, Makoto instinctively backed up. That, in turn, just made Yoko's smile grow more. She twisted her finger into her ponytail, winding the hair around it as she said, "So look: I really, seriously like you."

In an instant, Makoto Naegi felt his face flush. "I-I like you too, Watanabe-san," he managed to stammer.

She bit her lip and locked her bright eyes on his, squinting a bit. "Look, maybe you're ready to try and date somebody, and maybe not. Maybe you're still getting over Kirigiri-san, and maybe not. But if there's even a chance that you'd be willing to... " She trailed off and paused, glancing away and swallowing before she continued: "If there's a chance that you'd be willing to _take_ a chance, then I'd really like to be... more than your friend."

Makoto was bright red and looking at her with wide eyes, his mouth ajar. That was when she pounced - lunging forward and wrapping both around his neck, kissing him deeply. She pressed her lips hard against his, but the act only dumbfounded Makoto further, causing his eyes to nearly bulge from their sockets.

He hadn't yet retrieved the presence of mind to close his eyes before she broke off and grinned up at him. "Consider that food for thought," Yoko whispered. She then swiftly pivoted and headed down the hall alone, humming as she sauntered her way down and around the corner, out of sight.

Slowly, Makoto turned away and moved back towards the elevator. Shaking his head, he touched two fingers to his lips gingerly and mumbled "Oh man... I'm _really_ not any good at this... "

* * *

Being the head of an entire branch has its advantages. For one thing, the job came with the keys to every room within the branch's jurisdiction.

That meant that Kyoko Kirigiri had the keys to every area of the Fourteenth Branch's ship. So if she wanted to go into the commissary after hours and have a late-night snack, no one could really stop her. And tonight was definitely the kind of night when she wanted to treat herself.

She said at a table in the middle of the room with a plate of tiramisu and a small cup of decaffeinated coffee. Once, when this ship was under military control, the large room was probably called a "mess hall." The spartan look of the tables and chairs betrayed the ship's origins a bit, but the rest of the decor had added a lot of personal touches from the various members of the branch. There was a surprising amount of color on the walls. And Kyoko wasn't in the mood to put up with it when she was trying to be introspective, so she she kept the lights dim and sat alone in the middle of the room, eating small bites of her tiramisu as she reflected quietly to herself.

It had been six or seven minutes when the door to the commissary swung slowly open and a head peeked through. Even before she saw the interloper's face, however, the antenna of hair on his head gave away his identity: Makoto Naegi. Kyoko felt a tinge of pain in her stomach. She suddenly wished that the nighttime auxiliary lighting was far dimmer so that she could sneak out.

He walked towards her slowly, offering a blatantly nervous smile as he approached. Once he was almost to the table, he finally spoke up. "Haven't seen you in a while," Makoto said flatly.

Kyoko cocked an eyebrow. "I'm noticing a distinct lack of pronoun in that sentence," she observed. "Watanabe-san's influence?"

Makoto's face contorted into some kind of befuddled cringe. "It's... just the way people talk," he answered, weakly.

"Certain people," Kyoko said back. The response came a little too quickly. She focused on her breathing, attempting to relax herself. "What brings you here, anyway?"

"Oh!" Makoto said, as though explaining himself hadn't even occurred to him. "Figured I'd sneak in and get a cup of coffee." He looked down at his shoes. "I still remember the trick you showed me to the locks on the public access rooms, so I was gonna just... " He left the rest unsaid.

"You almost never drink coffee," Kyoko said pointedly.

"Except for when I'm stressed out," Makoto said.

"It's not an effective relaxation aid," she reminded him. "Quite the opposite, in fact."

Makoto didn't respond to that remark. He was too fixated on what Kyoko was eating. He gestured limply at her plate. "I didn't know we had tiramisu in our kitchen," he noted

" _We_ don't have tiramisu," she corrected him, " _I_ have tiramisu." She smirked. "I've been keeping it frozen here for use on a rough day."

"I'm sorry," Makoto said genuinely.

She gauged him for moment as she slowly chewed on her latest bite. At last she remarked, "You shouldn't be. It's really not your fault."

With a tiny smile, Makoto explained, "I know. I just meant that I'm sorry you've had a bad day. Y'know?"

Kyoko froze up and looked at him with no particular expression. She blinked a couple of times. "Of course," she said. "I was just joking with you."

He laughed a little. "That's reassuring," he said as he slowly pulled a chair out from under the table directly across from her. The scraping of the chair's legs along the floor seemed shrill and noisy in the middle of the empty room, causing Kyoko to wince. As he sat down, Kyoko started to open her mouth, then paused and let it hang, leaving something unspoken.

Makoto didn't seem to notice. He made himself comfortable by propping an elbow up on the table and leaning his head against it, looking at her. "Soooo... you're _not_ mad at me?"

The shake of Kyoko's head was as much a response to the question as it was a gut reaction to his cluelessness. "Of course not," she told him. A tinge of guilt caught her off-guard, but she kept her expression even.

Makoto's eyes squinted just a bit. "Then what is it?" he asked.

"What is _what_?" Kyoko countered.

"The reason you've been so... isolated lately, I guess."

She gave him a weak shrug. "I've been busy."

" _Really_ ," Makoto said. The hand he was resting his head on balled up into a fist as he sat up, bringing the hand to his chin in thought. "Even though we haven't made landfall or encountered any other ships for days?"

Kyoko paused and put her fork down, resting it gently against the side of her plate. Folding her gloved hands, she said, "Very good. You sound like a detective."

He smiled at that. "Well, this awesome friend and mentor of mine taught me a few things."

In spite of everything, Kyoko smiled right back at the compliment. "And you're certain they're a good friend to you?" she inquired.

He was straight-faced when he emphatically answered, "Of _course_. Beyond a doubt."

Kyoko's expression was equally serious. "Maybe they're more selfish than you realize," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Makoto frowned. "No way. Not her."

Kyoko's eyebrows went up. "I see. A woman, then," she said. "And you're _that_ confident you know her so well?"

At this point, Makoto could tell she was playing some kind of game or perhaps testing him. He leaned back in the chair and folded his arms. "You're not going to feed me a line about how girls are full of mystery or something, are you?"

The smirk returned to her face, but Kyoko said nothing.

After a long silence, Makoto closed his eyes. "Look... " he began. "I don't know what this is about. Like, I seriously don't know what _any_ of this is about. But why can't we just go back to the way we used to be?" When he opened his eyes, they met hers. "Honestly, I... miss you."

For what seemed like forever, Kyoko stared at him. Her eyes wrinkled at the outer edges for a few seconds. Her mouth started to part, then stopped. She pursed her lips.

"What?" Makoto said back at last. His put both hands on the table and swallowed. "Do you not _want_ us to be close friends anymore?"

Kyoko blinked. "It's not enough."

" _What_?" Makoto shot back. "What's not-"

"Going back to the way we used to be... " she answered him. "It's not enough."

He slumped back into his chair, crestfallen. His hands slid off of the table, falling to his sides. "I don't understand," he said, sounding small and meek. "What are you trying to say... ? If I did something wrong, I am asking you to tell me. Or if I _didn't_ do something I was supposed to... " He sat up again and leaned forward. "Whatever it takes, I will make this right."

"Although I'm ashamed to admit it," Kyoko said, "This one is on me."

"This _what_?" Makoto insisted. He threw up his hands and pleaded, "What is 'this one'?!"

Rather than respond, she took the last bite of her tiramisu and stayed silent as she chewed it, either to give herself more time to think or to let the tension hang in the air for a moment. Once she swallowed, she spoke at last. "'This' is... nothing concrete, I suppose." She placed the fork onto her plate. "Sometimes, simply saying what you're feeling comes without a clear point." She slid her chair out from the table and stood up, lifting her plate off of the table as she went.

Makoto stood up to go with her. As she pivoted and moved towards to the kitchen, he kept himself in step right behind her.

* * *

The kitchen was a darker space during the night, with only the digital readouts of the appliances and the auxiliary lighting of the adjacent dining hall filtering in through the pass-through countertop. Upon reaching the kitchen sink, Kyoko sat the plate down and turned on the faucet, then began the process of washing her dish. Makoto stood nearby, keeping his hands in his pockets.

"Are you planning to follow me for the rest of the night?" Kyoko inquired without bothering to look at him.

"I might," Makoto said quickly. His face was rigid now.

"You'll hit a snag when I shut the door to my room," Kyoko warned.

"Not if I'm already inside the room," Makoto said back.

Kyoko finally looked over at him and smiled a little. "Breaking and entering, are we?"

"Just entering," he clarified. Faced with her smile, he let his resolute expression crack for a second before regaining control. "I doubt I'll need to break anything," he finished.

"You know that I improved the security measures on my private quarters, right?"

"That won't be an issue if you invite me in."

Kyoko shut off the water to the sink and gave him a pitying look. "Just like that?"

"Yeah," he told her with confidence. "Just like that."

Kyoko patted the exterior of her gloves dry on a dish towel. "And won't Watanabe-san be uncomfortable with you spending time alone with another woman?"

Makoto turned his head and looked at her askance. "That's the second time you've brought her up. Level with me, please: Do you not like her or something?"

"That's not it at all," Kyoko said earnestly. "She's a skilled combatant and a kind young woman."

He looked Kyoko over, trying desperately to spy any hint of a crack of in her facade. "And you're not going to tell me what's really bothering you," he posited. "Is that right?"

Kyoko patted her gloves dry on a dish towel, glancing at him sideways. "I'm not trying to irritate you, you know. I simply wasn't prepared to have this conversation," she admitted.

"Guess that explains why we _aren't_ having this conversation," Makoto grumbled. "If you don't mean to irritate me, then please: quit dodging the issue and level with me."

Kyoko stopped in place as she considered her next move. With a small frown, she pivoted and leaned against the counter, placing her right hand upon it. "Very well," she said. "You deserve that much. Here is my offer: One question, one honest answer."

Makoto's frown was more pronounced than hers. "I only deserve _one_ honest answer?" he asked, surprised.

"That's not what I'm saying," Kyoko swiftly countered. "I'm not placing this limitation just to deny you answers. I'm merely trying to protect myself from... well, myself." Her entire body seemed to sag as she reached the end of that sentence. She looked down and to the side, her eyelids drooping.

His frown deepened. "I don't understand but... okay, whatever," Makoto said softly. Taking two steps forward, he did his best to look her in the eyes. He felt a bit better when her eyes rose to meet his. Makoto licked his lips before he said, "Just tell me this: Why have you been avoiding me for the last two weeks?"

As he finished asking his question, Kyoko heaved a sudden, deep sigh followed by a drawn-out exhale. She looked around the room with her eyes, never turning her head as she considered her response. At last, she chose her words slowly: "I've been coming to terms with my feelings... or at least, I'm trying to." Looking back into his eyes suddenly felt difficult; she flinched and shut hers on instinct. _Coward_ , she scolded herself. She forced her eyes open again, then added, "It's proving difficult for me to talk about this. I've never really... had to I hope you appreciate that I'm pushing myself here."

Makoto's face, which had been scrunched up in a mix of frustration and concern, rapidly transitioned into a sympathetic smile. He closed the gap between them and reached out to put his right hand up on her left shoulder. Gently, he said, "No matter what it is, you can tell me anything. And I do mean _anything_."

Now it was Kyoko's turn to wrinkle her brow in frustration. In a whisper she said, "You're making it obnoxiously difficult for me to hate you."

Taken aback, Makoto couldn't help but laugh. "Is it that important for you to hate me?"

She smiled at the way he laughed it off, but it was a tiny, sad smile. "It'd be easier if I could," she said. "But... no. You don't deserve that. In fact, you don't deserve any of this." She bowed her head a bit. "I am... _sorry_ for how I've been treating you."

Makoto squeezed her shoulder. "Thanks, I suppose," he responded, "But I'd rather understand the 'why' than get an apology."

Looking back up at him, Kyoko managed to roll her eyes. "I thought I'd made it perfectly clear," she groused.

Makoto grinned sheepishly. "Look," he said in a low voice, "I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes, all right? I'm gonna need you to be _really_ _specific_ here."

Kyoko shook her head and almost giggled at him. "Surprisingly clever _and_ surprisingly dense," she mused. "What a combination." She looked up to the ceiling and shut her eyes for a few seconds to marshal her strength. When she opened them again, she looked straight ahead at Makoto with new determination. "I'm saying that I have feelings for you, Makoto Naegi."

Bewildered, Makoto stared at her as his face twisted through a variety of rapid changes. First, it turned into a warm red as his mouth fell open. His eyes bulged for a second before narrowing when his brow furrowed. "No, that's — it's not — you-you _can't_ ," he said haltingly.

Kyoko scowled at his protests. "What? And why not? Are you claiming to know my feelings better than I do?"

"No!" Makoto yelled back at a volume that actually surprised him. "It's just... that... when I confessed to you, you weren't interested... ?" he said awkwardly. The difficulty of him getting the words out was obvious.

Now Kyoko had _her_ turn to be perplexed by _his_ words. "When you confessed to what, precisely?"

"To having feelings for _you_ , of course _,_ " he stated firmly. _  
_

She pivoted to her right and folded her arms, twisting away so as to make his hand fall from her shoulder. "That didn't happen," she said flatly, staring off to the side.

"Oh man — don't give me the fake-ignore," Makoto pleaded. "I _hate_ the fake-ignore."

Kyoko did not turn back to face him. "Well, I don't appreciate you claiming something happened that obviously _didn't,_ " she replied.

"But it _did_!" he insisted. "It was like, five months ago, I think? We were doing that thing where we watch the night sky go by from the upper deck of the ship, except you were sitting down at a table near the back, the aft, on the... um, the port side?" His speech accelerated as he continued. "And, y'know, you always sit at the small tables with just two chairs, which meant you had an extra one, so I came and sat down across from you, and when I did _that_ you-"

Kyoko turned her head back now, intrigued. "Was I eating at the time?" she inquired.

"No," Makoto said instantly. "You were just kinda staring off into space, I guess."

Her face grew contemplative. She brought a finger to her lips as she thought. "Do you remember what you said to me, and what I said back?"

"I know _exactly_ what you said," Makoto told her. "But what I said was uh..." He reached up and scratched at the back of his head. "Look, I had a lot of adrenaline rushing through me at the time, so I remember the gist, but the exact details are kinda hard to pull up in my brain."

"Very well," Kyoko responded. "Tell me what you recall."

Makoto immediately began. "When I sat down across from you, you smiled at me — y'know, that little smile you have — and um, it filled me with the confidence to just go for it, I guess. You looked off towards the water, and with your hair blowing in the wind and you facing away, I told you something like... " He paused and took a deep breath. "I told you that I really was grateful for the time we'd had together. That you'd opened up to me and let me into your life... and that I... " He swallowed hard and looked at the ground. "That I wanted to try and take things to another level with you. That I wanted us to try and be... a couple. Romantically."

Kyoko stood before him, just over a meter away, seemingly frozen by his words. Her hand had dropped limply from her face. Now it hovered in midair in front or her chest as she stared, glassy-eyed. Her mouth was agape, but she managed to keep it from being too obvious — to Makoto, she seemed to only have her lips slightly parted. She tried to protest his story, whispering, "That's not possible." Yet the hushed tone made it clear how little she believed her own denial.

He drew his lips inward and nodded a couple of times. "That's basically what you said then, too," he continued. "Your exact words were: 'Well, that's not going to work.' Then you turned back to look at me and said, 'I'm sorry.'" He chuckled ruefully. "And that's... that was the end of it."

Her hand was covering her mouth now and her eyes had drifted off to the side as she processed the information. "Five months," she mumbled. Her eyes darted back to his. The gloved hand fell away. "Then that was March of this year," she said.

"Yeah," Makoto said. "That's right."

He was not prepared for how she scowled at him. "The 'I'm sorry' you heard," she informed him. "That was a _question_."

"Huh?" he said weakly.

"It was 'I'm sorry?'" she clarified as she emphasized the upward lilt of the question mark. "It was a question by way of apology." She gritted her teeth. "Because I _couldn't hear what you'd said before that._ "

It was Makoto's turn to look as chastened as Kyoko had mere moments ago. "That's... no, there's-"

"If you recall the beginning of that weekend — the second one in March," Kyoko told him, "I had received a shipment of prototypes from the Ninth Branch that they wanted me to test out. I even told you that I was going to be going up to the deck each night that weekend so that I could fire the weapons out over the open ocean and test the other items in an outdoor environment. I even invited you to come up and see the goods for yourself, perhaps do some paperwork nearby simply to keep me company. I wager that's precisely how you knew where find me that night."

Makoto was squinted in confusion, but he only said, "Okay... "

"I tested most of the weaponry that Friday night," she went on. "That Saturday, I found myself testing some other, more varied items. These included a discrete pair of noise-cancelling earbuds that they'd put together to block out nearby explosions or — if need be — an attack by one of the noisier members of the Remnants-"

"Oh god," Makoto said in horror, cutting her off. "Oh _no_." His shoulders slumped. His face was pale.

"That's right," Kyoko confirmed with a sympathetic frown. "First, they passed the test of muffling the sound of gunfire. They even did fine with blocking the sound outdoor winds and waves. But I felt the reverberations of a voice once you began speaking to me. I I tried to adjust them with one hand, but it became clear that simple speaking was not adequately blocked out. Without the ability to block out vocals, someone like Ibuki Mioda would have no trouble screaming our heads off at a higher volume."

She paused and let her explanation hang in the air as she looked at Makoto's sickly face. "So that's why... " he began. He never bothered to finish his sentence out loud.

She exhaled sharply and repeated his words back to him: "'Well, that's not going to work. I'm sorry?' Two separate thoughts. One was a reaction to the item I was testing. I wonder if you even noticed me reaching up and underneath my hair to pull out the device. The second part was me asking for clarification on what you said when I couldn't hear you properly."

Makoto ground his teeth together and shut his eyes tight. "I'm an idiot," he grumbled.

"I assumed you still knew that I was testing out tech up there, and I declared the latest device untenable," she said unnecessarily. "That was all. Then, when I asked you to repeat what you'd been saying, you told me to forget about it," Kyoko said. A trace of emotion leaked into her voice as she ended, "I took that at face value. Foolishly, as it turns out. Even later that evening, when you seemed sullen, you blew me off when I asked what the problem was." Kyoko clenched her right hand into a fist and looked up to the ceiling. "I just assumed you'd... " Her voice cracked and she swiftly shut her eyes, embarrassed.

Makoto hung his head. "I need to... I can't believe that—God. I really _am_ sorry. Really."

Kyoko clenched her fist in frustration and looked away. "I suppose it's not really anyone's fault."

"I can't, with this," Makoto said in quiet desperation. "I'm such a tool. Let my nerves take over. I-I need to get out of here-" He turned away and moved to dash out of the kitchen.

He was instantly stopped when he felt Kyoko's hand squeezing his right shoulder from behind him. "Naegi-kun," she said, "I meant what I said earlier. Regardless of what happened seven months ago, I _still_ mean it. So if you could tell me... please: How do you feel _now_?"

Makoto turned his head back, his eyes hidden in shadow. "Now? I feel like an idiot that's wasted my time, feelings, and heart on-"

"About _me_ , Naegi-kun," Kyoko said. Her eyes wrinkled up at their sides, betraying her inner turmoil. With a subtle sadness, she, added, "I'm sorry to have put you into this position. I know you're stuck dealing with both me and Watanabe-san's feelings now. Honestly, I never intended to tell you what I was feeling in the first place. However, seeing you tonight made it increasingly difficult to keep it to myself."

He let out a ragged breath and rubbed the top of his head with his right hand. "Is that why you've avoided me these past few weeks?" he asked. "So you wouldn't let something out?"

"No," she answered. "That was simply to spare myself the pain of facing you."

Makoto finally pivoted to face her once more in full. As Kyoko's hand fell off his shoulder, she was surprised to see his eyes full of tears. "I never avoided _you_ when I thought you'd outright rejected me," he pointed out.

Kyoko folded her hands in front of her and bit her lower lip. "No, you did not," she conceded. "But you didn't have to watch me acting like some crush-addled junior-high student with another party, either."

He responded by throwing up the " _time out_ " signal with his hands. "Uh, hold up — flag on the play?" he said. " _Irrelevant_. You never have, either!"

She tilted her head curiously. "Oh? So you're _not_ completely infatuated with the new woman in your life?" She spun on her heel and faced the opposite direction as she grumbled, "Your behavior argues otherwise."

Makoto threw up his hands. "What behavior? And what _woman_?!" he demanded. Then, for a fleeting moment, his focus on Kyoko turned into a 1000-yard-stare. "You're talking about Watanabe-san," he realized.

Kyoko rolled her eyes in spite of the fact that Makoto couldn't even see her do it. "Of course I am," she said. "I've wandered into the same area of the ship as the two of you a few times over the past couple of weeks." She made a quarter-turn to her left so that she could side-eye him properly. "Whenever I've seen you together, it's clear from your body language and facial expressions just how deeply you're into one another."

Both of Makoto's arms fell to his sides. "Unbelievable," he said, a wry smile creeping across his face. "Kirigiri-san's skills have finally betrayed her." He covered his mouth and started to laugh, looking away as he did so.

This made her turn all the way around to face him head-on once more. "Just what do you mean by _that_?" she inquired.

"I-I'm sorry for laughing!" Makoto claimed, still struggling to stifle his own giggles. "It's just-" He stopped himself and grew serious as he realized, "Oh. _Oh_. Then Watanabe-san is really _that_ into me?" He frowned and scratched his cheek nervously.

"Of course she is," Kyoko fired back. "And I don't see the humor in it."

Her voice pulled him back to reality. "Right, sorry," he said. "See, I was laughing because you totally misread me. How do I put this? If I was giving off that kind of body language, it wasn't because of Watanabe-san." Shyly, Makoto looked down. "You saw us on the upper deck at first, right? And then in the gym, and then the communications lab."

"Well, yes," Kyoko admitted. "It's not like I was keeping it a secret." Her voice remained firm. "I'm not concerned that you noticed me there."

"Couildn't _stop_ noticing, actually," Makoto told her. "Just doing my best not to stare." He smiled nervously at her, until...

Kyoko looked downward suddenly as her face went bright red. "You-!" she blurted.

"Uh-huh," Makoto said, blushing right back. "If you noticed those kinds of expressions or body language, it's only because _you_ were there."

Kyoko stepped back a few paces. "I was so sure," she said, sounding uncharacteristically meek.

"It isn't the first time," Makoto reminded her. "There was that one day in Hope's Peak when you thought that Fujisaki-kun and I were-"

"Don't remind me," Kyoko said with a rapid shake of her head.

"It's really not that bad," Makoto said with a reassuring smile. "At least this should answer your question... about how I feel."

She locked her eyes with his now, attempting to return to the cool, confident persona she typically displayed. "So if those signals were caused by _me_ , does that mean that... "

"Right," Makoto confirmed with a half-smile. "I spent five months trying to get over you. It didn't work out."

She sucked on her lower lip for a few seconds as she let that information wash over her. "And Watanabe-san?" she asked.

"I didn't know she was interested in me like _that_ until earlier tonight," he said with a half-hearted shrug.

"I see," Kyoko said calmly. "Then you two aren't involved after all? Or did that begin this evening?"

"No, no," he assured her. "We're not involved. She just ended our evening hangout with... the clear messager that she _wants_ to be." He hunched over guiltily. "And when I ran into you here, I thought it was perfect." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I figured I could fix up our friendship or maybe finally get the strength to move on, if only you'd just _tell me off_ or something."

Kyoko approached him slowly. "Listen, Naegi-kun," she said, hesitant. She continued to draw nearer. "You know how I feel, and now, I know how you-"

"I wanna make something really clear," Makoto said, interrupting her again. He looked at her with a new purpose. His face hardened with resolve. "Sorry for interrupting you again, but I need you to understand what you're dealing with."

She stopped walking just two steps away from him. "Yes?" she said expectantly.

"All this talk about 'those kinds of feelings' or whatever is a nice dodge," Makoto said, "But here's the thing: I'm in _love_ with you." He felt his heart lodge in his throat, but he kept going. "Like I said, I tried to move on after you—that is, after I _thought_ you'd rejected me. But we remained close, so the initial feelings never had a chance to die. They just grew and grew into... " He spread out his arms. "Into _this._ Into how I am now _._ An unremarkable guy who just happens to think you're the most amazing person he's ever known. And if that's kind of intense? I'm sorry."

She smiled. It was a little more broad of a smile than Makoto was used to seeing on her, but for all its simple subtlety, it felt as bright as a sunbeam to him. "Don't be sorry," she told him. "You're in good company. I mean, are you willing to deal with a withdrawn, emotionally cold young woman?"

"You're not 'cold' at all!" Makoto countered.

"And you're not 'unremarkable' in any way," Kyoko told him sincerely. "Besides, I think that, if I'd heard you five months ago, I would've been interested in taking that step." She stepped close and reached out, wrapping one of his bare hands in her gloved one. Her voice was only a whisper as she continued, "It's only the past few weeks that have made me realize how strongly I feel about you, too. As embarrassing as all these misunderstandings have been to discuss, I'm far more ashamed to admit that the strength of my own petty jealousy was what finally made me accept... that... "She blinked a few times, struggling. Makoto stared at her, his eyes beaming and his cheeks glowing pink. Kyoko cleared her throat and went on, "It made me accept that... I... want you to be _mine_ , and mine alone. And I want to be _yours_." She blinked again. And then yet again. "Oh, _hell,_ " she growled, gritting her teeth. "I-I love you too!" she suddenly yelped — and then she shut her eyes tightly.

Makoto lunged, embracing her as tightly as he could. "That was surprisingly difficult to say," Kyoko said, laughing a bit at herself as she wrapped her arms around Makoto in return.

"I think you said it beautifully," Makoto whispered into her ear.

Kyoko giggled. "I'm not any good at this," she told him. "I mean... romantic relationships. That kind of thing."

Pulling back from their hug, Makoto smiled warmly at her. "Neither am I," he said. "I hope you don't mind if I learn it as we go along."

She took both his hands in hers. "We'll figure it out together," she told him affectionately. "Okay?'

And yet again, Makoto seemed distracted by something he realized. "Oh _NO_ ," he groaned.

"What is it?" Kyoko asked with concern. "Did I say something strange?"

He pulled one hand away from hers and slapped his own forehead. "Watanabe-san confessed to me tonight," he managed to quietly say through his teeth. "So now I've got to let her down easy somehow... "

Kyoko smiled once more. "You're so full of empathy," she observed. "Haven't you ever rejected anyone before?"

Makoto stared at her like she'd just suggested he was the new monarch of Russia. "Of course not!" he replied adamantly. "What, have _you_?"

She nodded nonchalantly. "Naturally," she confirmed.

"Great," Makoto said sarcastically. "I'm dating out of my league." He was only half-joking. "I knew it."

"Quiet now," Kyoko said, leaning forward. She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and kissed him gently, pressing herself down and into his mouth. Makoto put his arms around her waist in turn and pulled her close, deepening the kiss.

When she pulled away, Kyoko was grinning. "I can help you figure out what to say," she suggested. "For now, let's go someplace else."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, so you _are_ going to invite me to your room?" he teased.

"There is no way that you knew this would happen," Kyoko said as she narrowed her eyes. "Don't even start."

He half-shrugged and looked to the side. "I'm just saying: I told you that you'd invite me to your room to talk, and LO, here we are!"

"Oh," Kyoko said. "So it's not that you had insight into the future, it's that you're somehow controlling me?"

His smile turned playful. "Would you know if was?" he joked.

"Well, I can assure you that one of your commands has already failed," Kyoko told him. "Because I don't expect there to be all that much _talking_ going on."

At that, Makoto Naegi was struck speechless. Kyoko grabbed his tie and whipped it over shoulder as she headed for the exit, pulling him along behind her... and leaving him blushing once again.

* * *

 **Hi! It's been a while. If you made it through my longest one-shot to date, thank you _so much_ for reading it.**

 **Background on this one: I've seen a lot of Naegiri headcanons/drabbles that involve Makoto getting jealous of Kyoko, and a lot of people in the fandom claiming that Kyoko would obviously have far more choices than Makoto when it comes to possible romantic partners. This naturally made me want to explore the inverse of both: A jealous Kiri, dealing with Makoto's own likability leading him to attract someone else.** **And I enjoy using minor background players from the actual canon and expanding them to have actual personalities and names. Hence the use of the Yo-Yo girl from the finale of DR3.  
**

 **if you've been waiting for me to update one of my WIPs (like, say... _The Yearbook_ ), I am truly sorry for the delay. I feel guilty about that damn near every day. But I am not dead, nor have I forgotten. My own brain and my life get in the way of productivity sometimes. I apologize again.**

 **I must give some gratitude to fellow writer "CapNii" for indirectly driving/inspiring me to type this out. And I also thank YOU again for reading this! I hope you managed to enjoy it. Much love to you all.  
**


	30. Hallway

"So... "

Makoto Naegi licked his lips and stared at the opposite wall of his room. He was seated on the bed next to Kyoko Kirigiri, who was watching him with interest as he struggled to choose his words.

After half a minute had gone by, she shuffled her boots on the floor a little – a subtle way to remind him that she was still waiting. At last, he continued. "For me, it's like… " He lifted both hands and held them out in front of him as though framing two sides of a box. "…there's a hallway."

Kyoko frowned a little. "All right."

He nodded to himself, seemingly satisfied with his choice of metaphor. "At the end of the hallway, there's a door, right?" he said. "And if I cross the threshold into that room, then I've… I've gone as far as someone can go."

Kyoko smirked. "Untrue. You could traverse the expanse of the room itself."

This observation shook Makoto out of his staredown with the wall, causing him to lower his hands and look sideways at his companion. "I-I suppose, sure," he conceded. "But ah – for the purposes of what we're talking about, let's just say that entering the room is the logical endpoint." He pointed at the opposite wall. "I just mean, if I were to reach the end of the hall-"

"I understand," Kyoko interrupted, trying to sound reassuring. "It's like when someone says they've 'gone all the way.'"

"Yup," Makoto said – perhaps a bit too quickly. He felt flushed, so he looked at that wall again and took a deep breath. "All the way… to the end of the hallway."

"Right," Kyoko said back, suppressing a smile. "To the end of the hallway."

"Sure," he added, appropos of nothing. "And of course, there are places to stop along the way… along the path to the door at the end."

"Other doors?" Kyoko asked.

"Uh… " He scratched at his cheek as he thought. "More like alcoves?"

Unable to hold back any longer, Kyoko smiled gently. "This sounds like an unusually constructed hallway."

"Sorry," Makoto said with a nervous chuckle. "O-okay, let's say they're other doors that lead into smaller rooms. _Lesser_ rooms."

"Naturally," Kyoko said indulgently. "Because those rooms aren't 'all the way' at the end of the hall."

"You got it," he agreed. "Those other rooms, they're just pit stops on the way to the main room." He glanced at the floor and wiped his forehead. It felt like his whole body was overheating. "Which isn't to say that you can't, um… spend significant time in them… "

One of Kyoko's eyebrows arched upward. "You _were_ going to tell me how far you've gone down this hallway, right?" she pressed.

"Ye-yeah. Right," Makoto said, laughing. He cleared his throat before looking her in the eyes. "The thing is… that room at the end of the hall?"

Kyoko placed her hands on her knees and leaned sideways, shifting towards him. "Yes?" she said.

"I've… " He looked away shyly. "I've never… been in it… before."

"I see," Kyoko said softly. "You're saying that you're a vir-"

"Very patient man! That's right!" Makoto cut in, forcing a fakey grin. "I mean, I did once walk pretty far down the hall. Almost got to that threshold, but… nah. I only took a quick look." When Kyoko reached up and put her right hand onto his left shoulder, the phony grin collapsed. His eyes drooped as he looked sideways, avoiding her eyes. "I'm not usually so embarassed about it," he said. "But… I know that I'm older than most guys in my situation. Plus, someone as amazing as you are has probably-"

"Hush now," Kyoko said. She leaned forward and closed her eyes, kissing him on his lips. She pulled back with a final tug as she sucked on his upper lip, then smiled while staring into his eyes. "You're a fool if you honestly believe I'd care about your lack of hallway-traversal experience," she told him.

He smiled affectionately as he looked back into her eyes. "I guess you're right. It was… an irrational fear. Pretty stupid."

Lifting her hand from his shoulder, Kyoko moved it up to his forehead and swiftly flicked him in the head with her forefinger. "AH!" Makoto yelped, shocked. "What was that?!"

She looked at him with a self-satisfied half-smile. "Consider that your punishment for acting needlessly self-conscious about the matter, for ever even _considering_ that I'd be so small-minded as to care, _and_ for calling yourself stupid." She sighed as she shifted that same gloved hand onto his left cheek, cradling it affectionately. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I've made it clear in the past that I haven't done much dating, either. On what basis would you assume I've had so much experience in these kinds of things?"

"I didn't think it was 'so much' experience!" he countered, waving both hands in denial. Settling down, he continued, "Sure, neither of us may have dated _much_ , but we still _have_ dated, right?" He shrugged and smiled. "So then… it's possible. Right?"

"It's possible," she teased by way of agreement. Quietly, she brought her hand under her chin and looked down as she thought. "For my part, you could say.. I've used some of the side doors to find my own path through the hallway's length, albeit via non-traditional access methods." She looked back at him, her expression unreadable. "Perhaps an air duct or maybe some kind of… linked rooms?""

Makoto's forehead wrinkled. His eyes moved around the room. Then he settled back to looking at her as his mouth fell open. Even so, no sound came out.

As he sat like this, five seconds passed. Then ten.

"What?" Kyoko finally asked.

..."I have no idea what the hell you just told me."


End file.
